Brazil president wants Bush, Chavez chat

BRASILIA, Brazil
Brazil's president says he'd like to get President Bush and ardent U.S. critic Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to sit down together and talk out their differences.

"I told President Bush that, before my term of office ends, I want to see him and Chavez seated at the same table," Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva told The Economist in an interview published Friday on the British magazine's Web site.

Relations between Venezuela, the world's fifth largest oil exporter, and the U.S. have gradually deteriorated, leading to the recent expulsion of diplomats from each country and threats by Caracas to cut oil shipments to the U.S.

Washington officials have repeatedly expressed concern over the health of democracy in Venezuela, while Chavez often criticizes "imperialist" U.S. actions in places from Latin America to Iraq.

For his part, the left-leaning Silva was at first was distrusted by Washington. But he surprised many by curbing spending, bringing down inflation, and enacting programs to distribute food and boost education among the poor.

"One day, President Bush and President Chavez must talk," Silva said in the interview. "You may think I'm a dreamer here, but I really believe this is possible."

He added, "if these two presidents don't talk, if neither is even willing to talk and settle their differences, there'll never be a solution."

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