Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Sunday that he was "extremely surprised" over the positive atmosphere at the Summit of the Americas in Port of Spain, according to dpa. "Many people thought that this was going to end in a battle," he said. Instead, Lula noted, it was proved that "it is fully possible to have a new relationship of friendship" between the United States and the rest of the continent. In this sense, Lula was happy that Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez - an outspoken critic of the United States - took his advice and changed his approach to US President Barack Obama. "Chavez had a serious problem in the era of (former US president George W) Bush, and that can change in the Obama era," Lula said. He stressed that further change is needed to consolidate the new ties between Washington and Latin America, like the inclusion of communist Cuba in the inter-American system that Latin American countries would like to see. "I do think it is possible to have another Summit of the Americas without Cuba," Lula said. Cuba was the only one of 35 countries in the Americas that had no representation at the summit. It was suspended from membership of the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1962. "The relationship (between the United States and Latin America) took a step. Step by step you can build the reat Wall of China," Lula said.
