Single currency a step closer for ALBA nations

• Source: Global Times
• [01:20 December 14 2009]
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That move echoes the European Union's introduction of the euro precursor, the ECU, an account unit designed to tie down stable exchange rates between member states before their national currencies were scrapped.

Before attending the summit, Chavez also signed $3.2 billion worth of cooperation agreements with Cuba on Saturday.

The agreements, chiefly covering the health, education, farming and energy sectors, aimed to "ease the negative repercussions of the current global economic crisis," said Cuban President Raul Castro, adding that the Cuba-Venezuela union was "the chief example of our integration dream for Latin America and the Caribbean."

Chavez also said former Cuban leader Fidel Castro was in great health, and he would try to convince the former Cuban leader to join the two-day ALBA summit.

Fidel Castro has not been seen in public since his July 2006 operation.

Agencies contributed to this story