CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is promoting the creation of a new regional bloc of Latin American and Caribbean countries, calling it an important step toward independence from world powers such as the U.S.
Chavez said during a meeting with Latin American foreign ministers Tuesday that he agrees with former Cuban President Fidel Castro that the formation of the new bloc would be “the political event of the greatest importance” for the region in the past century.
The proposed Community of Latin American and Caribbean States would comprise “all the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean without the United States, without Canada,” Chavez said.
That would make the new group a potential alternative to the Washington-based Organization of American States, which Chavez contends is dominated by the U.S.
