[NYTr] Brazil's Lula Urges Bush to Drop the Ideological War of Word in Latin Amer

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

Excerpted from VIO Venezuela News Roundup - Sep 28, 2007

[Brazilian President Lula da Silva asked Bush to forget his ideological
differences with Latin American leaders and focus instead on fostering
economic development in the region.  "The United States needs to
understand that the Cold War is over," Lula said in a televised
interview.  Lula said that discord between Bush and Chavez is partly
rhetorical, and due to the fact that "Chavez thinks Bush ordered a coup
against him."  The U.S. Congress will debate today a bipartisan bill to
establish a 10-year, $2.5 billion poverty reduction program for Latin
America.  The Associated Press reports that the Chavez government has
pledged over $8.8 billion in the region this year alone in development
programs and humaniatarian assistance. -VIO]


Reuters via The New York Times - Sep 27, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/world/international-brazil-usa-lula.html


Brazil's Lula Urges U.S. Initiatives In Latin America

BRASILIA - The United States needs to drop its preoccupation with
left-wing leaders in Latin America and play a bigger role in helping
developing the region's economy, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula
da Silva said on Thursday.

"The United States needs to understand that the Cold War is over, this
issue of who is Communist and who isn't, is over," Lula said when asked
about the rivalry between Venezuela and the United States during a
television interview.

"I've told Bush, the United States needs to have a pro-active policy
toward Latin America," Lula told Record News television channel. "All
countries want to develop ... and the United States can help."

Any cooperation between U.S. President George W. Bush and Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez would be the first between two leaders whose
governments clash over everything from oil prices to arms deals to
democracy.

U.S. officials say Chavez, who calls Cuban leader Fidel Castro his
mentor, undermines Venezuela's democracy and is a destabilizing
influence in the region.

Lula, who began his second term in January, said Brazil had good
relations with both countries because they were important trading
partners.

Washington and Caracas had historic differences because "Chavez thinks
Bush ordered a coup against him," Lula said, adding that part of their
difference were merely rhetoric.

Lula and Chavez have worked together toward South American integration
as a counterbalance to the interests of wealthy countries in the
region. But Lula has distanced himself of Chavez's nationalist and
anti-market policies.

Brazil and the United States forged a strategic alliance this year to
promote ethanol production in the region.