Posted on 09/27/2009 9:09:26 AM PDT by BenLurkin
Moammar Gadhafi and Hugo Chavez urged nearly 30 leaders from throughout Africa and South America on Saturday to form a strong intercontinental alliance to make the two regions a new global power.
Gadhafi proposed a defense alliance of South American and African nations, calling it "a NATO of the South" -- an idea Chavez has raised with other allies in the past.
Seven South American leaders signed an agreement to create a regional development bank with $20 billion in startup capital, and Chavez offered to help create a "South-South bank" with African countries in the future.
The two-day meeting that began Saturday on Venezuela's Margarita Island addressed a wide range of concerns, from hunger in Africa to the economic crisis and demands for reforming the United Nations.
Chavez called it "a summit of great importance for the struggles of the South." Presidents discussed plans for joint projects in energy, mining, agriculture and other areas.
"Only united will we be free," Chavez said as he opened the summit.
The meeting gave Chavez an opportunity to attempt a greater leadership role outside Latin America while critiquing U.S. influence and promoting socialist-inspired policies. He said on Friday that by uniting, the two regions can confront a legacy of poverty left "by the empires of the North -- by the empires of Europe, by the U.S. empire."
Gadhafi echoed some of Chavez's concerns about the world's economic powers in a wide-ranging speech Saturday, saying through an interpreter that "colonialism has stolen our riches."
Without naming any particular countries, Gadhafi denounced what he called the "politics of the club" used by some nations against others.
Gadhafi made his first visit to Latin America after attending the U.N. General Assembly in New York, and met Chavez inside a trademark Bedouin tent next to the hotel's pool.
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
AP - Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula Da Silva waves upon his arrival to a hotel in Porlamar, capital of ... The Libyan leader, on his first visit to the Americas, called for the two regions to become a political and economic force, saying that together "we can transform the world."
As if these areas weren’t impoverished before the West began developing their vast — untapped — resources.
Obummer should have arrested Qudaffi and impounded his plane as the main man on Lockerbie.
We just let a guy like that kick sand in our face. Screw diplomatic immunity!
(Wait a minute. Our country is being ruled by a lunatic communist!)
I don't think he could. Apparently Kaddafi joined the SEIU at some point. (See pic, far right.)
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