Buenos Aires - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has long made it clear that he does not like going to international summits as anything other than a protagonist - and he is travelling to London for the G20 summit in April with very clear views.

Protectionism is not a way out of the ongoing global economic and financial crisis, he is bound to say, and it is industrialized nations which caused the crisis in the first place and therefore should bear the brunt of the cost by helping poorer countries recover from the effects.

Rio de Janeiro  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday that he prays for US President Barack Obama to be successful in his efforts to overcome the ongoing economic and financial crisis.

"I pray for him more than I pray for myself, that he may find a way out for the United States. And who knows whether that may help solve the problem for other countries," Lula said as he opened a hydroelectric plant in the central Brazilian state of Tocantins.

Sao Paulo  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva warned rich countries Friday against turning to protectionism in the current global economic and financial crisis.

"It is a mistake to think that protectionism solves the problem. Protectionism, at this point, will make the problem worse," Lula said.

The president was in the northeastern Brazilian city of Belem, where he took part in the World Social Forum (WSF) a day earlier.

Caracas  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Friday called for an end to the US embargo on Cuba and suggested a meeting between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and president-elect Barack Obama, who is to be inaugurated Tuesday.

Lula noted that differences between Caracas and Washington were largely because of outgoing US President George W Bush, and stressed that the "extraordinary importance that Venezuela has at this point" cannot be denied.

Rio de Janeiro - The Workers' Party of Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva has suffered severe losses in mayoral elections, losing in such metropolises as Sao Paulo and Porto Alegre.

In Sao Paulo, the nation's largest city and its financial hub, incumbent Gilberto Kassab of the conservative Democrats won by a landslide with 61 per cent of the vote in Sunday's runoff against Workers' Party candidate Marta Suplicy.

Sao Paulo  - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva believes the ongoing financial crisis will lead to the election of Democrat Barack Obama as US president.

"This crisis, among other benefits it will cause, will get Obama elected as president of the United States. It will get a black man elected, which is no small matter," Lula said late Monday, during an awards ceremony for outstanding personalities held in Sao Paulo and sponsored by the magazine Carta Capital.