March 31, 2005
Lula sends message to the US government

(Invest News) - "President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva used his speech in the meeting he had yesterday with the presidents Álvaro Uribe (Colombia), José Luis Zapatero (Spain) and Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), in Ciudad Guayana, to defend the behavior of the latter. 'We do not accept defamations against companions. Venezuela has the right to be a sovereign country, to make its decisions,' he said, adding that he was not afraid to make the same affirmation in 'any other place in the world.' (...)

'Venezuela does not need to be accused of things that, people who live with you, Chávez, know that they are not part of your behavior and of your thinking,' said the Brazilian president. 'We have many people speaking bad of us in the world,' he said (...)".