Rio de Janeiro - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva insisted Friday that his country will not be contaminated by the severe
financial crisis that is affecting the United States, adding that US President George W Bush should deal with the problem. "People ask me about the crisis, and I answer, go ask Bush. It is his crisis, not mine. I have to look after my country so that it is not affected," Lula said in the northeastern Brazilian town of Mossoro.
The Brazilian president said his country has more than 200 billion dollars in reserves and is therefore protected from turbulences in the financial markets. He drew a sharp contrast between Brazil's current situation and its position last decade.
"Just imagine if the crisis had happened 10 years ago. Then, a sneeze in the United States'
real estate crisis would have caused
Brazil a pneumonia," Lula said.
