Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez proposed new pacts to his Argentinean and Bolivian counterparts, deals aimed at boosting the energetic sector in Latin America and limit the US influence.

During his meeting with Argentina’s President Nestor Kirchner and Bolivian Evo Morales, Chavez proposed the construction of a gas pipeline connecting Venezuela with Argentina. The planned route would pass through Bolivia, where a gas processing facility would be built.

The state leaders held a conference in the southern Bolivian city of Tarija on Friday and Chavez said his country would finance this bold project that would allow approximately 150 million cubic metres of natural gas to flow each day to Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay.

Through this initiative, Venezuela’s leaders aims at cutting the United States influence in Latin America and promote natural resources buried in the territories core. Chavez tries to widen the coverage of state conglomerates on the continent by forming different alliances with other national companies.

Another important step towards achieving this desideratum was made in Bolivia, Chavez and Morales agreeing to form a joint venture named Petroandina. The company formed by the merger of state-controlled PDVSA (Venezuela) and YPFB (Bolivia) would operate in the oil-rich fields in La Paz, Tarija and Chuquisaca.

Previous to his trip to Bolivia, Chavez made a visit to Ecuador where he met with President Rafael Correa and agreed to build a 5-billion-dollars refinery in the western Manabi province.

Both nations have vast fields rich in oil and natural gas, while Bolivia has one of the biggest natural gas reserves in Latin America. But despite this ambitious plans, Chavez will find it very hard to convince other nations like Brazil, Columbia, Peru or Chile to form an alliance and cut off links with the United States.