Return of the trade union of the poor?

Noam Chomsky, in the Grauniad, hails what he sees as growing coöperation among developing countries.

Many indigenous people apparently do not see any reason why their lives,
societies and cultures should be disrupted or destroyed so that New Yorkers can
sit in their SUVs in traffic gridlock.

Venezuela, the leading oil exporter in the hemisphere, has forged probably the closest relations with China of any Latin American country, and is planning to sell increasing amounts of oil to China as part of its effort to reduce dependence on the openly hostile US government.

Venezuela has joined Mercosur, the South American customs union
- a move described by Nestor Kirchner, the Argentinian president, as "a
milestone" in the development of this trading bloc, and welcomed as a "new
chapter in our integration" by Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the Brazilian
president.

Venezuela, apart from supplying Argentina with fuel oil, bought
almost a third of Argentinian debt issued in 2005, one element of a region-wide
effort to free the countries from the controls of the IMF after two decades of
disastrous conformity to the rules imposed by the US-dominated international
financial institutions.

Steps toward Southern Cone [the southern states of
South America] integration advanced further in December with the election in
Bolivia of Evo Morales, the country's first indigenous president. Morales moved
quickly to reach a series of energy accords with Venezuela. The Financial Times
reported that these "are expected to underpin forthcoming radical reforms to
Bolivia's economy and energy sector" with its huge gas reserves, second only to
Venezuela's in South America.

Cuba-Venezuela relations are becoming ever
closer, each relying on its comparative advantage. Venezuela is providing
low-cost oil, while in return Cuba organises literacy and health programmes,
sending thousands of highly skilled professionals, teachers and doctors, who
work in the poorest and most neglected areas, as they do elsewhere in the third
world.

Cuban medical assistance is also being welcomed elsewhere. One of the
most horrendous tragedies of recent years was the earthquake in Pakistan last
October. Besides the huge death toll, unknown numbers of survivors have to face
brutal winter weather with little shelter, food or medical assistance.