Oil shake

Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, has been promising to build a "Bolivarian axis" of like-minded anti-American governments.

Usually when people talk about Latin America, they talk about Brazil, Argentina, Mexico and even Cuba. So it does surprise me that of late, a country like Venezuela is taking the lead in uniting the region in their mission to achieve a common goal.

Of course, Brazil and Argentina are shaking in their pants because they may be the No 1 and 2 biggest economy in Latin America but they're oil supplies mostly come from other countries in the region, like Bolivia.

Brazil for instance had just invested $1.5 billion in Bolivia's natural gas industry and spent $2 billion dollars to build a pipeline from Bolivia to Brazil but now, Bolivia is giving them a six months notice to agree to new deals or get their current deals declared null and void in their bid to nationalize their economy which seems to be the trend in the the region right now.

Shaken, but not stirred, Argentine President Nestor Kirchner will convene a summit on Thursday at Puerto Iguazu near Argentina-Brazil border with his counterparts from Brazil, Venezuela and Bolivia to discuss the latter country’s move to nationalize its huge gas industry.