Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, the president of Brazil, is shying away from Venezuala's Hugo Chavez over the issue of oil versus biofuels. Brazil, powerhouse of cane-based ethanol and with room to expand in the biodiesel arena, is not on board with Chavez's idea that going the biofuel route will cripple the South American food supply and play into American hands.
Chavez, by way of counter-proposal, has suggested that South America instead rely on "its" large oil reserves. One imagines Lula has some reservations about agreeing to a plan that eschews Brazil's strengths -- biofuels and land -- and embraces Venezuela's -- oil. Although it's true that loss of arable land is a problem, and that loss of rain forest to biofuels farming in Brazil is a problem, the solution of "rely on oil" isn't so hot, either -- and is conceptually quirky, coming from an avowed leftist.
In the end, it comes down to what you have, and it's unlikely Lula will pick ideology over prosperity for his people.