Venezuela, Uruguay for Economic Unity
Presidents Hugo Chavez (Venezuela) and Tabare Vazquez (Uruguay) championed for the South American peoples´ economic integration to face US policies.

Tuesday, at a joint press conference, Chavez called the Washington-proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) criminal and noted its failure in the region.

"To face the FTAA, we designed the Bolivarian Alternative for Latin America and the Caribbean (ALBA), a project with its own exchange strategy," he emphasized.

The Venezuelan statesman took as an example the existing plans with Uruguay to exchange Venezuelan oil for its cattle and dairy products as well as projects for construction of housing and software.

For his part, President Vazquez said his nation has not planned to sign a Free Trade Agreement with the US and his government considers inadequate the current atmosphere of the commercial relations imposed by Washington.