Brazil, Venezuela vie for energy clout

Brazil’s president Lula da silva toured Mexico and four Central American countries this week as Venezuela’s President Chavez visited four South American nations.

Mexico City – Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva goes north; Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez heads south.

Both have energy at the top of their agendas. President Lula da Silva, on a five-country tour of Mexico and Central America, is promoting alternative fuels, particularly ethanol. President Chavez, on a four-nation tour of South America, pledges new deals for gas plants and bonds purchases, all paid for with petrodollars.

A coincidence? Perhaps. But their trips this week underscore, at least symbolically, aspirations to lead Latin America, with energy driving their politics.

“There is a lot of jockeying, a lot of dancing going on these days, on both Chavez’s and Lula’s part,” says Michael Shifter, the vice president for policy at the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. “There is this subtext of oil versus biofuels, what Chavez has and Lula is trying to promote.”
Analysts disagree on the size of the rift between the two leaders who, while friendly, have rival visions. Still, one thing is for sure: it’s never been better to be an energy-needy nation in the region.

Lula’s trip has been dominated by energy pacts: Earlier this week, he traveled to Mexico