Brown stopped off in Brazil on his globe trot in advance of the G20 summit in London next week. The President, known as Lula, while not dismissing Brown’s mission asked pointedly why the poor had to pay for the mistakes of the bankers. They by and large were not representative of many oppressed people, largely black or Indian and impoverished, they were white Europeans who claimed to know all about economics. Now it was clear they knew nothing about economics.
The sentiment is now widespread in the Latin American world where country after country has elected socialist leaders with Cuba a prominent voice in the region. So much of the moves to improve health and education have been inspired by the Cuban example, and probably teachers and doctors from Cuba have been working inm those countries.

“White, blue-eyed bankers are entirely to blame for the world financial crisis that has ended up hitting black and indigenous people disproportionately, the president of Brazil declared .
In an outspoken intervention as Gordon Brown stood alongside him, Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva pledged to make next week’s G20 summit “spicy” as he accused the rich of forcing the poor into greater hardship.
‘This crisis was caused by no black man or woman or by no indigenous person or by no poor person,’ Lula said after talks with the prime minister in Brasilia to discuss next week’s G20 summit in London.
“This crisis was fostered and boosted by irrational behaviour of some people that are white, blue-eyed. Before the crisis they looked like they knew everything about economics, and they have demonstrated they know nothing about economics.”
Challenged about his claims, Lula responded: ‘I only record what I see in the press. I am not acquainted with a single black banker.’
The remarks by Lula, a former trade union leader who had an impoverished upbringing in the poor north-east of Brazil, enlivened Brown’s five-day trip to North and South America. This is designed to pave the way for a global agreement on how to tackle the global downturn at next week’s G20 summit in London, to be chaired by Brown.” Source Guardian 27/3/2009