Brazil urges US not to interfere in Latin America

Brazil has called on the US to open a new chapter in its relations with Latin American countries by not interfering in their affairs.

President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva used his weekly radio address on Monday to ask the White House to develop fresh Latin ties based on a "vision of partnership and not interference, of contribution and not intervention."

"I am convinced that the United States can definitely have another sort of relationship with Latin America," said Lula on Monday, after a Saturday meeting with US President Barack Obama in Washington, Xinhua reported.

Lula, who has not yet wrapped up his US trip, said Latin American countries and the US should join forces to tackle the global economic firestorm.

Lula, speaking at a Wall Street Journal-sponsored investment forum in New York, also insisted that the United States should lift Cuba sanctions, noting the controversial measure makes no sense in the 21st Century.

"There is nothing any more from the political perspective, from sociological perspective, from the humanitarian perspective that impedes the reestablishment of relations between the United States and Cuba," Lula said.

The United States is anxious about the rise of socialist, leftist governments in its backyard that are challenging US hegemony in the region.

"It’s not possible in the 21st Century to make policy looking toward the 20th Century _ let’s think about looking toward the 22nd Century," the Brazilian President reiterated.