(Agencia Bolivariana de Noticias) - "A new stage for the Bank of the South consolidation starts. A meeting will be held with the ministers for finances of Argentine, Bolivia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Venezuela, and Brazil (as a watcher).

The information was given by the Minister of Finances of Venezuela, Rodrigo Cabezas, through a press bulletin.

In this event will participate the Minister of Economy of Argentine, Felisa Miceli; the Minister of Economy and Finance of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño; the Minister of the Treasury Department, Luis Alberto Arce; and the Vice-minister of the Treasury Department of Paraguay, Jorge Von Horoch, also the representatives of these countries before the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), World Bank (WB), International Monetary Fund (IMF), and Latin American Reserves Fund (Flar-Spanish acronym).

In parallel to this meeting, technical delegations will meet in the Venezuelan Central Bank (BCV- Spanish abbreviation) headquarter to discuss the bases of the Bank of the South constitutive agreement, which includes capital contribution and structural organization.

Bank of the South initiative was launched by the President of the Bolivarian Republic Venezuela, Hugo Chávez Frías, in joint with his Argentinean counterpart, Néstor Kirchner. They signed a memorandum of understanding about this Bank last February.

During the press conference offered by both Presidents at that time, Chávez announced that in 120 days should be a plan of action 'in order to create the statutes, an implementation plan for the quinquennium, a program for raising resources, and an estimation of the starting capital'.

The Bank of the South is aimed to be a financial institution for development projects in response to the needs of the nations constituting it without the intervention of the big power centers.

Chávez said that the initial document for the materialization of the proposal has an ethic, economic, politic, and social point of view.

Likewise, he pointed that the Bank of the South headquarter will be in Caracas and another one in Buenos Aires.

Governments of other nations will be able to join at any stage of the project.

Venezuelan Government has reiterated the disposition of US$7 million for the starting capital of this financial organization, though this subject is part of the discussion agenda.

The proposal about the Bank of the South was presented, recently, by Rodrigo Cabezas during the Annual Assembly of Governors of the IDB that took place last week in Guatemala.

This proposal has received the support of other countries like Paraguay and Ecuador, which are going to participate in the meeting.

Regarding this subject, the Minister for Finances of Ecuador, Ricardo Patiño, underlined the 'political decision of the President of Ecuador, Rafael Correa, of working on a financial alternative for Latin America. According to the President, the Bank of the South will contribute with the development of the people'.

During the meeting that will take place in Caracas possible joint strategies of the nations constituting the Bank of the South and the role of the multilateral organs will be analyzed".