Chavez backs dropping U.S. dollar for oil trade

COCHABAMBA, Bolivia, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Saturday that countries including Venezuela, Russia and Iran had proposed the U.S. dollar should be replaced as the currency used for the oil trade.

"We've been talking about this in OPEC. Venezuela agrees and there are other countries, such as Iran and Russia that have also proposed this idea," Chavez told reporters in the central Bolivian region of Cochabamba, where he was attending a summit of leftist Latin American presidents.

A debate about the issue of replacing the dollar with a basket of currencies in an attempt to stabilize revenues has been widely discussed since a report in the Independent newspaper this month said Gulf states were considering the change. (Reporting by Teresa Cespedes; Writing by Eduardo Garcia; Editing by Peter Cooney)