MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil “has no candidate” in Bolivia's election

Brazil tried Thursday to downplay President Lula da Silva's words of support for the left wing Indian candidate who leads Bolivian public opinion polls in the run up to December 18 presidential election.

Brazil "has no candidate" in Bolivia's presidential election and only is interested in seeing that country's institutions strengthened, an official spokesperson said Thursday in Brasilia. President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's international affairs advisor, Marco Aurelio Garcia, said that "Brazil has no intention of meddling in Bolivia's internal affairs."

Garcia's comments to foreign reporters came a day after Lula da Silva, during a meeting with Argentine President Nestor Kirchner, was interpreted as having expressed specific support for Bolivian candidate Evo Morales.

"At no moment in history have we enjoyed the opportunity of having a South America completely devoted to its people", said the Brazilian president in Puerto Iguazu addressing an audience that included president Kirchner.

The Brazilian president of very humble origin and former union leader went on to say: "imagine what (president Hugo) Chavez's election meant for Venezuela. Imagine what it would mean if Evo Morales won Bolivia's election".

The latest opinion polls show Mr. Morales - the leader of the Movement Toward Socialism ? enjoying a slight advantage over his main rival and runner up, former President Jorge Quiroga.

Mr. Garcia insisted in underlining that those remarks "do not mean that the Brazilian government supports or prefers Morales over other candidates".

"Brazil supports the strengthening of democracy ... and is convinced that the coming election will be vital to help normalize the country's institutional situation" stressed Mr. Marco Aurelio García.