Tension between Venezuela and Brazil over ethanol policy threatens to overshadow a regional energy summit being hosted by Venezuela this week, despite attempts to play down differences and promote Latin American integration.
Hugo Chávez, Venezuela's president, has condemned a US push to boost ethanol production which Fidel Castro, of Cuba, has called "genocidal". However, the US initiative last month resulted in an agreement between Washington and Brazil, the world's largest producers of ethanol, to promote regional production of the fuel.
