Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez AP PHOTO

The leftist leader, who has long railed against the Washington-based lenders, said "we will no longer have to go to Washington, neither to the IMF nor the World Bank, not to anyone."

Venezuela recently repaid its debts to the World Bank five years ahead of schedule. It paid off all its debts to the IMF shortly after Chavez first took office in 1999. The IMF closed its offices in Venezuela late last year.

The Japan Times Weekly: May 5, 2007
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