Bank of the South charter to be signed in Buenos Aires

MercoPress, November 13, 2007

The foundation charter of the regional development Bank of the South will take place in Buenos Aires on December 9 and will be signed by the presidents from Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela, confirmed Ecuadorian president Rafael Correa.

The ceremony has been scheduled for Buenos Aires and not in Venezuela as originally scheduled, taking advantage of the presence of the South American leaders at the inauguration ceremony of Argentina’s president Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, which will take place December 10.

The draft of the Bank of the South charter was finished early October in Rio do Janeiro during a summit of regional Economy and Finance ministers. The new multilateral institution is considered as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank and seeks to satisfy development credits demand.

The founding members of the Bank of the South which is considered the brain child of Venezuela’s president Hugo Chavez are Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela. Colombia has applied to become a member however Chile and Peru have opted out. The initial capital of the bank has been agreed at seven billion US dollars.

“The Bank of the South will be capitalized with contributions from the region to finance development projects, our development projects, not development projects geared by remote control by countries from out of the region, not World Bank projects which have bankrupted us and on top we owe them money”, said President Correa.

The Bank of the South headquarters will be located in Caracas, Venezuela with regional offices in Buenos Aires and La Paz, Bolivia. The new foundation date ceremony was agreed at the recent controversial Ibero-American summit held in Santiago de Chile and will be the last main regional event to the headed by Argentina’s president Nestor Kirchner.