Venezuela to leave IMF, World Bank
Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez announced his country's decision to pull out of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, accusing them of exploiting small countries.
By Agencies |
CARACAS: Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez announced his country's decision to pull out of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, accusing them of exploiting small countries.
"I want to formalize the exit (of Venezuela) from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and all that. We don't need a representative there any more," he said in broadcast on VTV state television on Monday.
The OPEC nation's leader branded the organizations "tools of US imperialism" to exploit the less powerful.
Chavez, a leftist firebrand who has made a habit of demonizing the US administration, was given sweeping powers in February to govern by decree for 18 months.
"We are going to withdraw ... and let them pay back what they took from us," he said, claiming that the organizations were "in crisis".
"I read in the press somewhere that the IMF does not have enough money to meet its payroll," he explained.
"We are going to withdraw before they go and rob us," he added, issuing an order for his Finance Minister Rodrigo Cabezas to begin proceedings to withdraw Venezuela from the organizations.
The IMF recently reviewed a campaign launched last September to increase the stature and voting rights of emerging-market and poor countries.
The United States has accused Chavez of being a destabilizing force in Latin America. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said Wednesday that he was wrecking his country "economically and politically".
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