World Apr. 24, 2008 - 05:58AM JST ( 0 )

CARACAS —

A chorus of anti-U.S. leftist Latin American leaders issued a strong show of support Wednesday for Bolivia where the government believes it is threatened by a breakaway bid from wealthy regions.

President Evo Morales faces a referendum vote May 4 on regional autonomy, sought by the relatively prosperous eastern regions of his impoverished nation, South America’s poorest.

Those regions largely oppose La Paz’s socialist policies.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez called Wednesday’s urgent summit meeting of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, a regional group set up to counter U.S. trade and diplomatic efforts in the region. The group includes Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Nicaragua and Dominica.

“We have decided to issue to the world a statement of support and solidarity for the Republic of Bolivia, the people of Bolivia and comrade Evo Morales,” Chavez said at the Miraflores presidential palace.

The statement also voiced “firm rejection of destabilization plans seeking to endanger Bolivia’s peace and unity.”

Chavez, hosting Morales, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega and Cuban Vice President Carlos Lage, also set up a food security fund with an initial capital input of $100 million.

The Venezuelan president called the meeting after ailing former Cuban leader Fidel Castro warned Latin America was facing another imminent tragedy in Bolivia.

In Washington, OAS political affairs chief Dante Caputo said that on May 4, “the possibility the situation in Bolivia may turn into a conflict is real.”

AFP