Bullish Chavez assumes Andean bloc leadership

Venezuela’s leftist leader Hugo Chavez has assumed leadership of the Andean bloc president’s council, telling his peers that Latin America was still bound by a ”colonial system” and proposing they pool their energy resources to achieve economic independence.

Chavez, who took the reins of the Andean Presidential Council from Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo for the upcoming year, said yesterday that his proposed ”Petroandina” oil and natural gas company – run by Venezuela, Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia – would help rid the region of poverty.