Gaddafi, Chavez promote Africa-South America ties

Porlamar: Libya's Muammar Gaddafi and Venezuela's 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.

Gaddafi, 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."

Gaddafi proposed a defence 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 capital, and Chavez offered to help create a "South-South bank" with African countries in the future.

The two-day meeting that began on 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.

Gaddafi, who has ruled Libya since he seized power in a 1969 coup, has sought a greater leadership role internationally in recent years and is currently chairman of the African Union.