Lula e Chávez

Former Brazilian President Fernando Enrique Cardoso believes that his successor Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's preference for global integration over regional integration has paved the way for the "populist leftwing" embodied by Venezuelan ruler Hugo Chávez.

"If Lula had taken good care of the region, Chávez would not have gained ground," Cardoso said in an interview with Chilean newspaper La Tercera, Efe reported.

Lula "should not engage in a confrontation with Chávez," Cardoso said in connection with the main role the Venezuelan ruler played during the latest summit of the Common Market of the South (Mercosur). Some experts believe Chávez kept Brazil' regional hegemony in check during such meeting.

"Brazil should not seek supremacy. Brazil does not need that. It has to find converging friends that may be useful for all," Cardoso added.

Venezuela "has a media leader who is the spokesman of a vision contrary to globalization and capitalism." Lula cannot take such a stance "because Brazilian productive development is greater than Venezuela's and Brazil cannot run counter globalization."