Latin America market round up: Hugo Chávez watch

Hugo Chávez, Venezuela’s president, has issued a stark warning to the US government – threatening to blow up his country’s oil fields if the US were ever to attack. Speaking at a mini-summit in Paraguay involving four Latin American presidents, Chávez said: “We won’t have any other alternative but to blow up our own oil fields – they aren’t going to take that oil.” Venezuela is the fifth-biggest oil exporter in the world and one of the largest suppliers to the US. The US denies that it has any intention of attacking Venezuela.