Brazilian government: Castro "misunderstands" biofuel
The Brazilian government on Wednesday said Cuban leader Fidel Castro was wrong in his view that developing biofuel would lead to worldwide food shortage.

The Cuban state newspaper Granma carried an article last week, in which Castro warned that producing biofuels would lead to starvation.

His remarks came just days after Brazil and the United States agreed to work together to create a world market for ethanol made from plants.

"I believe that there are misunderstandings in Fidel's position about the extent that biofuel production would create food production problems," said Marco Aurelio Garcia, an international affairs adviser to Brazilian President Luis Inacio Lula da Silva.

Garcia said that food insecurity was caused by a lack of income, not a lack of food worldwide, adding that Brazil's food production would not be harmed by an increase in biofuel production.

In the article, Castro blamed U.S. production of ethanol from corn, which is a staple food in many poor nations, to be the reason behind a hike in cereal prices.

"In Camp David, (U.S. president George W. Bush) declared his intention to apply this formula worldwide, which can mean no other thing than the internationalization of genocide," Castro said.

Garcia said he was also surprised by criticism from Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who had previously expressed interest in biofuels and adding ethanol to gasoline.