January
22, 2004
Venezuela
to host G-15 summit Feb 25-28
(Dow Jones Newswire) - "Venezuela
plans to host a summit of the G-15 organization
of developing countries from Feb. 25 until Feb.
28 in Caracas, said a press release from the Foreign
Ministry.
Some eight heads of state have said
they will attend the summit, Communications and
Information Minister Jesse Chacón said
late. The G-15 group consists of 19 countries.
Chacón also said that Venezuelan President
Hugo Chávez will have a separate meeting
during the summit with his Brazilian and Argentine
counterparts, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Nestor
Kirchner.
Brazil, Venezuela and Argentina
have teamed up in their criticism toward a region-wide
free trade agreement which the U.S. would like
to implement in 2005. Also, there are numerous
meetings planned between oil ministers and foreign
ministers. Nigeria and Iran, Venezuela's fellow
members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting
Countries, or OPEC, are among the most important
oil nations that will attend the summit. The summit
was canceled twice in 2002 due to political and
economic turmoil in Venezuela".
