Because at least one forum member exhibited an interest in this topic...I enclose the following article for review. The article is in Spanish, because while I was typing other posts into this forum, two other computers were running...tryng to get something credible and better than a small blurb in English...nothing to my satisfaction. In short...major news...Banco del Sur has received major capitalization, including *major* funding from Brazil (critical). This goes a long way to weening South America off exclusive IMF reliance. Since Banco del Sur is physically headquartered in Caracas...it also goes a long way towards dismissing the allegations and insinuations inserted into the Western press about "the isolation of Chavez". This relates to Ecuador because this fund benefits the entire South American region, but also serves to better frame relations between Ecuador and Venezuela, which are often distorted by those lacking sufficient objective data. The article, in Spanish, can be found at: http://ww1.elcomercio.com/noticiaEC.asp?id_noticia=306890&id_seccion=5 .