Chavez Pledges Nearly Triple U.S. Aid to Latin America

[Xgamer]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aE2rHbVaMjzs&refer=latin_america

America, AP Says

By Theresa Bradley

Aug. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela has made pledges of more than $8.8 billion in assistance to other Latin American countries this year, nearly triple the $3 billion the U.S. gave the region in 2005, an Associated Press tally shows.

Buoyed by record oil income, Venezuela is giving cash, buying debt, and selling cheap oil to allies sympathetic to President Hugo Chavez's plans for socialism and regional integration, AP said.

The aid, more than ever before granted by a Latin American country, comes with fewer conditions and earns more good will per dollar than lower-profile U.S. government grants and loans, AP said. Private U.S. investment and trade still dwarfs the contributions of both governments in the region, AP said.

Not included in U.S. aid figures are its contributions to multilateral lenders including the Inter-American Development Bank and World Bank, AP said. It's unclear how much of Chavez's promised aid has actually been delivered, AP said.

[Trumpeldor]

Sounds like the new Warsaw Pact (Look it up, fellow infidels).