Hard-headed: Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (r) and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez visited Venezuela's Carabobo heavy oil plant last year
Chavez, Lula on ethanol collision course
South America's political heavyweights clashed over ethanol, exposing a rift today at the start of an energy summit that host Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez hoped would cement anti-US unity.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the leader of the continent's largest economy who has moved closer to US President George W. Bush over ethanol output, swiped at Chavez, rejecting his fellow leftist's criticism of their plan.
Chavez, who wins political influence with the Opec nation's subsidised energy exports to its neighbors, denounced Bush's project to promote ethanol production in developing countries as a sure-fire way to increase hunger by lifting food prices.
But Lula, who has cultivated ties with both right-winger Bush and his leftist antagonist Chavez, said there was sufficient arable land in South America,Reuters reported.
"We have a huge territory, not only in Brazil, but in all South American countries, and Africa, which can easily produce oil seeds for biodiesel, sugar cane for ethanol, and food at the same time," Lula said on his weekly radio show before arriving at the two-day, 12-nation summit.
Venezuela, the fifth-largest exporter of oil to the US, has urged Latin America to pass over ethanol and instead rely on its vast oil reserves and co-operate in developing ways to reduce energy consumption.
Aides to Lula say ethanol is his obsession, despite being labeled genocidal by Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Chavez's political mentor.
In public, Chavez and Lula shared hugs, smiles and mutual congratulations for their leadership on a tour of a Brazilian-Venezuelan petrochemical project.
But they also said they expected to discuss ethanol at a later closed-door meeting of the almost dozen presidents.