Bolivia, Brazil Leaders Clash on Biofuels Issue
Date: 02-Jul-07
Country: PARAGUAY
Author: Daniela Desantis
"The use of corn to produce biofuels has pushed prices up. More land is used to grow corn instead of other food crops like soy," Bolivian President Evo Morales said at a Mercosur trade bloc summit in the Paraguayan capital Asuncion.
His speech, attended by the presidents of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Uruguay and Paraguay, came shortly after Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said ethanol production should be seen as a motor of economic growth for the region.
Morales said he agreed with criticism of biofuels made by fellow leftist Latim American leaders, Fidel Castro of Cuba and Hugo Chavez of Venezuela.
Castro wrote a newspaper article in April calling the ethanol industry "genocidal" -- a stance disputed by biofuels powerhouse Brazil.
Soon thereafter, Chavez denounced a US initiative to promote ethanol production in developing countries, saying it was a sure-fire way to worsen hunger by lifting food prices.
"When (Fidel Castro) got out of bed to write an article to criticize the sickening enthusiasm of (US President) George Bush for ethanol, he was right," Morales said.
Castro has been recovering from a string of operations for an intestinal illness that prompted the Cuban leader to hand over power temporarily to his younger brother Raul last July.
Lula, the center-left leader of South America's largest economy, has said he is "obsessed" with ethanol and has defended biofuel production as a way to create jobs in poor rural communities.
Brazil is the world's leading producer of sugar cane-based ethanol and a pioneer in the use of biofuels.
