CARACAS, Venezuela - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and three of his closest allies are teaming up to create a regional development bank intended to strengthen their alliance and promote independence from U.S.-backed lenders like the World Bank.
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The bank is to be launched Saturday as Chavez hosts a summit with leaders from Nicaragua, Bolivia and Cuba — members of the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas, or ALBA.

The left-leaning regional trade alliance is intended to offer an alternative, socialist path to integration while snubbing U.S.-backed free-trade deals.