CARACAS, Monday September 29, 2008 | Update
Politics
Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will hold
on Tuesday a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo
Chávez in the Amazonian city of Manaus to address an
agenda focused on the financial crisis, energy and food.
The two presidents hold quarterly meetings to discuss bilateral
and regional issues, and the meeting on Tuesday will focus
on ways to strengthen regional integration as a means to reduce
vulnerability in crisis scenarios, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry
reported.
Presidents Evo Morales of Bolivia and Rafael Correa of Ecuador
had been invited to participate in the meeting with Lula and
Chávez. However, the presidential office in Brasilia
reported that the visit of both leaders to Manaus had been
"planned (but) not confirmed."
11:00 AM. Economy. Based on the official data, more and more families failed to get out of poverty in 2008; the exclusion status of more people moved faster and fewer people are on their way to overcome this situation. According to the data provided by the official National Statistics Institute (INE), last year the poorest homes in the country recorded an average monthly income of USD 401.82, whereas the food basket amounted to 417.77