Latin America Summit

Brazil's president has called on the South American countries to create a local currency for their regional trade in an effort to reduce its reliance on the US dollar.

Addressing a summit of South American leaders, Lula da Silva called on the Mercosur trade bloc to create better compensation mechanisms and a shared unit of transaction for commerce.

The idea of a shared currency within the Mercosur trade bloc, comprised of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay, has been discussed intermittently since its establishment in 1991.