Lula salutes Obama, asks him to lift Cuba embargo

Nov 5, 2008, 18:37 GMT

Brasilia - Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Wednesday described Democratic candidate Barack Obama's victory as an 'extraordinary event' and asked the US president-elect to lift the decades-old embargo on communist Cuba.

Lula said Obama's historic rise underlined the democratic aspects of US society. 'It could only happen in a democratic regime in which society expresses itself.'

The Brazilian president also expressed a desire for the next US president to end the US-imposed embargo on Cuba. 'We await the end of the blockade on Cuba, because there is no explanation for that blockade.'

Lula, however, also cautioned that there is 'a very big difference between winning an election and governing a country like the United States ... Let us wait until he is inaugurated to see what happens.'

He urged Obama to have 'a stronger and bolder relationship with Latin America and Africa,' and said that Obama could seal 'a peace agreement with the Middle East, where a deal has been sought for decades and decades and has not been achieved.'

Lula said it was 'necessary for the United States to build a more active policy with relation to Latin America,' adding that he expects Obama to pursue policies that stimulate 'development and investment in the poorest countries.'