CARACAS: President Hugo Chavez says Venezuela could eventually withdraw from the Organization of American States and seek Cuba's help to create an alternative regional group.

Chavez claims the OAS serves the interests of the United States. The Venezuelan leader has repeatedly criticized Cuba's expulsion from the organization in 1962 on grounds that its communist government went against the hemispheric body's principles.

Chavez said Monday that "Venezuela would love to join Cuba" as a nonmember.

Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez chimed in, saying Latin American and Caribbean nations should create an organization that "serves our people rather than the Empire," a reference to the United States.