Venezuela

The Alba trade bloc, formed by Venezuela as an alternative to a US-backed hemispheric free trade area, is considering the creation of a single "monetary zone," as it gathers to discuss the global economic slowdown. President Hugo Chavez said a common currency may help increase trade among Latin American countries, and criticized the Group of 20 industrialized and developing nations for failing to listen to poorer countries. "We're not going to wait here with our arms crossed for the World Bank or the IMF to come and solve the problems that this great threat unleashed on the world," Chavez said at the beginning of the summit in Caracas. (Bloomberg)