Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and his Libyan counterpart Muammar Gaddafi have called on Africa and South America to join forces to break to dominance of the West.

The call came during the second Africa-South America summit, currently being held on Venezuela’s Margarita Island. Around 30 heads of state, together with national representatives from a further 30 countries, are attending the two-day meeting.

The agenda includes hunger in Africa, the global economic crisis, and the formation of a collective investment fund to act as an alternative to the International Monetary Fund.

Seven South American countries have now given the green light for the formation of the Banco del Sur, a development fund for the continent. It will receive a start-up capital of 20 billion dollars. It’s hoped that the bank will later cooperate with the Bank of Africa.

Mr Gaddafi also wants to see military cooperation between the two continents. He has proposed the formation of a South Atlantic Treaty Organisation, to function as a counterpart to NATO.

Photo by ANP/EPA