Sept. 21, 2007 (LPAC)--Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez announced that, after discussing the matter with Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa, they decided to launch the Bank of the South in November of this year, even though there is not a consensus among all the nations involved. President Correa explained in an interview that "there are some countries that want to move rapidly, such as Argentina, Venezuela, Bolivia, and Ecuador... What we have decided among those who want to accelerate the pace of integration is that we will advance, and then the others will follow and will be welcome, but we cannot go at the pace of the slower ones."

Both Correa and Chavez were clearly referring to the foot dragging of the Brazilian government of Lula da Silva, which is being fiercely pressured by the Banco Santander and other international speculators to sabotage the Bank of the South. Chavez said that Lula had agreed to start the bank in November, but if Brazil "is not ready then, we'll go ahead anyway."

According to Chavez, the current financial turmoil proves the need for the creation of mechanisms to protect nations against the crisis, and the Bank of the South could be one of them. "What is going on in the United States could be the first sign of a financial earthquake," Chavez said, and "one has to be prepared for the worst."