Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called on Latin American countries to participate in his proposed gas pipeline project. The Venezuelan President made a statement about this during negotiations with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner.

At the same time, W. Chavez expressed confidence that the governments of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia will participate in the project, which, according to him, will guarantee energy supply to “all countries of South America over the next 200 years.”

An ardent critic of US policy, W. Chavez once again stated that the main reason for his conflict with Washington is the issue of energy resources.

The estimated cost of construction of a 6 thousand km gas pipeline, which should pass from Venezuela to Argentina through Brazil, is approximately $10 billion.

Another issue that the presidents of Venezuela and Argentina discussed during the meeting was Venezuela’s entry into the Mercosur organization, which currently unites Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay. As Argentine President N. Kirchner said, his country will actively support the proposal for Venezuela's full membership in Mercosur during a meeting of the organization's leadership scheduled for December 9 in Uruguay, AP reports. Venezuela is currently an associate member of Mercosur.

Let us remind you that the topic of the conflict with the United States haunts W. Chavez all the time he is in power. From time to time, the leader of Venezuela allows himself extremely harsh remarks towards the United States. So, on November 18, continuing his war of words with Washington, he called US President George W. Bush a “murderer” and again accused the Americans of interfering in the internal affairs of their country.

“The people of the United States are under the control of a murderer, a madman! I am sure that the American people are becoming more and more convinced of this every day,” W. Chavez said during a meeting at the presidential palace with representatives of Venezuelan and Brazilian economic and political circles.

W. Chavez will connect Latin American countries with a gas pipeline