Nelson Motta
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - Yesterday (3), president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva admitted that it was a mistake for Brazil to depend on a single country for over half the natural gas that Brazil consumes. "It was a strategic error for Brazil to become dependent upon a single energy source that doesn't belong to us," he commented in a conversation with reporters, after signing the Chaputepec Press Declaration in a ceremony held at the Planalto Palace.

Despite the possibility of a supply cut, Lula said that there is no risk of a gas price hike in Brazil. "The problem is ensuring Brazil's gas supply. I am at ease. Gas prices will not increase. I am not worried about this," he said.

"The only thing we must do is to take their side and for them to take our side and for us to find a middle way," the president declared, in answer to a question posed by the president of the National Newspaper Association, Nelson Sirotsky, who asked the president about the meeting he will have today (4) ín Argentina with the presidents of Bolivia, Evo Morales, Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, and Venezuela, Hugo Chavez.

Translation: David Silberstein