Aug. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said the political opposition engineered a bribery scandal that's engulfed Brazil's ruling party, and he pledged more oil to Brazil as a sign of support for President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.
Chavez, 51, said allegations that Lula's Workers' Party bribed lawmakers in exchange for support for government legislation came from a ``planning center'' run by the political right. Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, fully supports Lula, he said.
``I sense that this is a campaign by the traditional political class, specifically the Brazilian right,'' Chavez, 51, said early this morning in Brasilia after a three-hour dinner with Lula. ``It's a barrage, an attack against the president, and I believe this has to be coming from some kind of planning center here inside Brazil or, even, outside Brazil.''
As a sign of support for Lula, Chavez proposed giving Brazilian state-controlled oil producer Petroleo Brasileiro SA the right to exploit with Venezuela's state-run Petroleos de Venezuela SA one of 27 oil fields set to be explored near the Orinoco River. He said the lease may hold 50 billion barrels of reserves.
Bloomberg