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The Sucre, from Venezuela to Trinidad and Tobago
by Gabriela Guerra Rey

Translation by Diana Barahona

Havana, 18 April (PL) As soon as the framework accord of the Sistema =
=DAnico
de Compensaci=F3n Regional de Pagos [Single Regional Compensation =
Payment
System: SUCRE] was signed in Venezuela, Ecuador and other countries =
called
for its regional use. The initiative arrives today from Venezuela to
Trinidad and Tobago. Shortly before arriving in Puerto Espana, capital =
of
the host country where the V Summit of the Americas is being held since
Friday, Ecuadoran President Rafael Correa said that commerce would be =
very
much sped up with that virtual currency.

At the same time he expressed his desire that it be converted into a
financial mechanism among all Latin American countries so they wouldn't =
have
to use U.S. dollars.

The previous evening, the members of ALBA held a special summit prior to
that set up by the Organization of American States (OAS).

The OAS excludes Cuba from its meetings, expelled in 1962 from that
continental bloc under pressure from the United States against its =
socialist
system.

The lobby of Puerto Espana was Cumana, 275 kilometers east of Caracas, =
where
the member countries of ALBA, as well as Ecuador and Paraguay as special
guests, sought a common position in the face of the challenges of the =
crisis
and the exclusion of Cuba.

Final debates and documents were also centered on the condemnation of =
the
U.S. financial, economic and trade blockade against Cuba and the =
creation of
the SUCRE.=20

The decisions taken there were focused on the hemispheric encounter on =
the
understanding that these countries would not accept the proposed final
declaration in Trinidad and Tobago, considering it obsolete and out of =
touch
with the times.

As a result, the issues discussed by ALBA have become protagonistic,
although they are off the agenda of the continental meeting which brings
together 34 regional heads of state between April 17 and 19.

The virtual currency has been under negotiation as an alternative in the
face of the global crisis born in the United States and expanded, =
through
the international financial system, to the rest of the world.

Another one of its principal objectives is to eliminate dependency of =
the
nations of the region on organizations such as the International =
Monetary
Fund and the World Bank [and the InterAmerican Development Bank], =
defenders
of the interests of the North and industrialized nations.

The new currency, which carries the name of Ecuador's national =
independence
hero, Antonio Jose de Sucre, will begin to be used after Jan. 1, 2010.

The mechanism of unification will not only be used by ALBA members
(Venezuela, Bolivia, Cuba, Nicaragua, Dominica, Honduras and since =
yesterday
San Vicente and the Granadians) but also by Ecuador and Paraguay, =
observers
of this bloc.

Upon signing the agreement Hugo Chavez expressed his enthusiasm for the
initiative, which he will announce in Puerto de Espana.

"This is the birth of the Sucre,  Single Regional Compensation Payment
System, which will be the first economic and financial element in the
building of a regional state of ALBA plus Ecuador," he said.

He recalled that in November of 2008 a proposal was approved for the
creation of a system of financial integration separate from the dollar, =
and
that would inject solidity into the South American countries.

This system will consist of the Regional Monetary Council, the Sucre =
Common
Account Unit, the Central Chamber of Compensation and the Reserves and =
Trade
Convergence Fund.

The final document which concluded the meeting in Venezuela and  which =
was
carried as a proposal to the V Americas Summit, further expressed its
questioning of the plan by Group of 20 developed and emerging countries =
to
triple the resources of the IMF.

The members stressed that what was really needed was to establish a new
world economic order.

It should include, they said, the transformation of the IMF, of the =
World
Bank and of the WTO, since their neoliberal conditionings contributed to =
the
economic crisis with which the 21st century began.

http://www.walterlippmann.com/docs2394.html