MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula da Silva tells Obama: beware of the “government machine”

Lula wishe Obama to solve the crisis as soon as possible

Brazil's president Lula da Silva said on Friday he would like to talk with US president elect Barack Obama before the “government machine” gets hold of him and expected the incoming leader “would change his vision on Latinamerica and acknowledge the advance of regional democracy”.

Lula da Silva made the statements during a meeting with his counterpart Hugo Chavez in the Venezuelan province of Zulia where he signed trade agreements and anticipated the Brazilian Senate would soon approve the incorporation of Venezuela to Mercosur. "I haven't had a chance to talk with Obama and undoubtedly we must have a discussion before the government machine gets hold of him", said Lula da Silva. And looking to President Chavez he added "and you know Hugo that these machines are very powerful and if we don't fight against them they devour us in a short time and then we don't do what we should have done". "These machines are capable of making us into something different to that what we were thinking about when we took office", underlined the Brazilian leader. "Let's hope Obama is enlightened by God and gives him the sufficient intelligence and sensitivity to realize he must solve this crisis as soon as possible, that he can't let countries of Latinamerica and the Caribbean which depend exclusively on exports to the US, to suffer because of the crisis". Lula da Silva also urged that the developed world "finds a quick solution before the crisis could again plunge the developing world into stagnation as happened in the eighties and nineties with the foreign debt crisis". The Brazilian president further on anticipated that the Senate of his country would be approving at the latest in March, Venezuela's incorporation as full member of Mercosur. "This is the will of Mercosur and Venezuela", he underlined. "Many times we celebrate international agreements and the legislative process takes longer than we would like" he admitted. President Chavez said the announcement was "wonderful news and so will be the results". He pointed out that with Venezuela inside Mercosur, bilateral trade with Brazil would certainly increase from its current six billion US dollars annually. Mercosur in 2006 was accepted as Mercosur member, but ratification from the Brazilian and Paraguayan congresses is pending. Uruguay and Argentina's legislatives have already voted the incorporation.