I respect the path Cuba chooses to take.

Everyone is innocent unless proven otherwise.

I am the son of an illiterate father and mother.

No one can reap the fruit before planting the trees.

All countries have problems with China's economic power.

You're going to be hearing a lot about one scrappy president.

Free trade is very important if we respect equality among nations.

No one can wipe away the injustices of centuries in only eight years.

The production of fuel from basic food commodities is, in fact, unjustifiable.

It is important to remember that I am not in the G-8; I am just an invited guest.

Here in Davos, it is generally assumed that there is now only one god - the market.

It is clear that Messi is on a level above all others. Those who do not see that are blind.

In Brazil, a poor man goes to jail when he steals. When a rich man steals, he becomes a minister.

Hunger is actually the worst weapon of mass destruction. It claims millions of victims each year.

The true path to peace is shared development. If we do not want war to go global, justice must go global

Venezuela needs to develop; economic growth is essential for the country after so many years of lagging behind.

My greatest desire is that the hope that has overcome fear in my country will help vanquish it around the world.

A war can perhaps be won single-handedly. But peace - lasting peace - cannot be secured without the support of all.

I don't need arms, and neither does anyone else... At the very least, a ban would prevent fights from turning deadly.

Fortunately, war in Latin America is usually waged only with words. The tongue is our most dangerous weapon. We talk too much!

I will never tire from repeating my commitment to ensuring that every Brazilian can have breakfast, lunch and supper every day.

Without Messi there isn't a team for Argentina, Messi is brilliant, different, with a strong mentality. Let's hope he doesn't change.

We've advanced in the construction of a true free-trade area across South America... What's needed now is less rhetoric and more action.

No sustainable development, environmental harmony or lasting security will happen if we are unable to eradicate hunger and extreme inequality

Since 1990, we have been building up the idea that democracy is the best way for sectors that feel socially excluded from politics to win power.

The fight against hunger and poverty is also predicated on the creation of a world order that accords priority to social and economic development.

Brazil is in a solid position. In the past, if the United States sneezed, we caught pneumonia. Today, if the United States sneezes, we sneeze too.

If, at the end of my mandate, all Brazilians have the possibility to eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, I will have fulfilled the mission of my life.

I have stated publicly, I want the same things for Iran that I want for Brazil. I want them to use and develop their nuclear energy for peaceful means.

If there was one last thing I could do in my life, it would be to help Dilma turn this country around, with the decency that the Brazilian public deserves.

Well-fed people can enhance their dignity, their health and their learning capacity. Putting resources into social programs is not expenditure. It is investment.

Where there is hunger there is no hope. There is only desolation and pain. Hunger nurtures violence and fanaticism. A world where people starve will never be safe

The growing use of biofuel will be an inestimable contribution to the generation of income, social inclusion and reduction of poverty in many poor countries of the world.

Brazil has rediscovered itself, and this rediscovery is being expressed in its people's enthusiasm and their desire to mobilize to face the huge problems that lie ahead of us.

Brazil is a country that has rich people, as you have in New York City, as you have in Berlin or in London. But we also have poor people like in Bangladesh or in African suburbs.

When I see Messi - who is the best player in the world in my opinion - lose the ball, he runs off until he gets it back or commits a foul. Our guys lose the ball and fold their arms.

I know how to move between political camps. When everyone in the world hated (Libyan leader Moammar) Gadhafi, I paid him an official visit. It caused an uproar - Lula's visiting the devil!

When President Kirchner complains, I often sympathise with him, because Argentina was deindustrialised, and it is perfectly normal for the president of a country to try to get industry back.

Brazil does not want to become an exporter of crude oil. No. We want to be a country that exports oil byproducts - more gasoline, high-quality oil - and to strengthen the petrochemical industry.

The thing is that we live in a presidential system with a parliamentary constitution. Congress has a lot of weight in Brazil, and the president cannot always do when he wants; he does what he can.

If with so little we have done so much in Brazil, imagine what could have been done on a global scale, if the fight against hunger and poverty were a real priority for the international community.

No one has to agree with everything that someone else says. But in state-to-state relations, we have to understand that we can help each other much more doing it that way. We have to be more generous.

In my opinion, the Doha Round is the most important thing that we can do to reduce inequalities, create opportunities, and develop the poorest countries, face up to the struggle against terrorism and strengthen democracy.

I know what unemployment means because I was unemployed for one-and-a-half years, and I know the drama that the worker and unemployed worker faces. I know the world of the labor union better than I think anyone else does.

I have known Evo Morales for many years, since the days of the union movement. From a historical and sociological standpoint, the election of Evo Morales is extraordinary, with great prospects and potential for the Bolivian people.

I have suggested that Brazilian enterprises invest in Uruguay and Paraguay. These are small economies, so some things can be produced in these countries that will give them greater and more equitable involvement in the Mercosur game.

The financial system has to be regulated, we have to end with the tax havens, and it's necessary that the central banks in the world should control a little bit the banks' financing because they cannot bypass a certain range of leverage.

I learned during my term and in the presidency that we should not discuss about assumptions or insinuations. If one day I have to do something against the U.S., the first one to get to know what I was going to do would be the president of the U.S.

A long time ago I learned not to put the blame for backwardness in Brazil on the US. We have to blame ourselves. Our backwardness is caused by an elite which for a century didn't think about the majority and subordinated itself to foreign interests.

What most surprises me about Brazil is the extent of the difficulties that we create for ourselves. We create a lot of legislation to control the Brazilian state itself, that this ends up meaning that things don't go with the speed any head of government would like.

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