Next Monday in Caracas, the Bank of the South will be born, as part of a number of initiatives for hemispheric union that "the US Empire and its lackeys have tried and continue trying to disrupt," said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez.

Chávez gave the news during a break of the meeting of the economic planning central committee on Tuesday night at the presidential office, reported government news agency ABN, Efe quoted.

This initiative and others, such as Telesur, Petrosur, University of the South and Gas Pipeline of the South are being gradually imposed thanks to perseverance and changing correlation of forces in Latin America and the Caribbean, said the head of state.

Chávez expects the participation of the ministers of Finance, Treasury or Economy of member countries. While failing to list the member countries, he said that they had ratified Caracas as the venue.

According to the Argentinean media, a meeting of ministers will be held next Monday in Rio de Janeiro on the Bank of the South.