A Latin NATO

At a Presidential summit in Brasilia, Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez made a proposal to his Argentine and Brazilian counterparts: The creation of a South American Defense Council, a South American NATO.

After the summit,however, Brazilian Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, played down Venezuela's sugestion and denied any military alliance in the making .

Chavez has accused the US of planning to invade Venezuela. A military alliance with would difficult such a move. Analysts consider Chavez’s obsession with an American invasion as rhetorical. Chavez, they argue, wants to use Anti-Americanism like Castro, as a convenient pawn. Lula and Kirchner are not playing the same game, but they may change their minds: Kirchner has already resorted to anti-Americanism and Lula is craving for popularity before running for a secod term.