Crash

Brazil Prez Blames `Blue-Eyed Bankers'

Lula rants with British PM beside him.

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio 'Lula' da Silva promised to make international economic policy “spicy,” and he is already delivering: With British Prime Minister Gordon Brown standing beside him at a press appearance in Brasilia on Thursday, Lula blamed the recession on the West’s “blue-eyed bankers.” The Guardian relayed Lula's statements: “This crisis was caused by no black man or woman or by no indigenous person or by no poor person. This crisis was fostered and boosted by irrational behavior 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.” When questioners pressed the president for details, he replied, “I only record what I see in the press. I am not acquainted with a single black banker.” Lula then drew reality television (or maybe just closed-circuit cameras) into his argument against America’s financial practices: “You go to the shopping mall and you are filmed. You go to the airport and you are watched. I can’t imagine that only the financial system has no surveillance at all.” According to The Guardian, Brown “looked mildly uncomfortable” during Lula’s rants.