BUENOS AIRES (AP)--Brazilian presidential candidate Luiz Inacio "Lula" de Silva, says that loans from the International Monetary Fund will not alleviate the economic crisis affecting Brazil and Argentina.
"I don't believe that taking loans from the IMF will offer any economic salvation for Brazil, or for Argentina," the 54-year-old said during an interview Wednesday on Argentine cable news channel Todo Noticias.
"I believe that Argentina's recovery, and that of Brazil, will come from the productive capacity of industry and agriculture and tourism ... not from borrowed money."
Lula, the candidate from the left-wing Workers Party, is the current favorite to win Brazil's October 6 presidential election
In August, the IMF agreed to lend Brazil $30 billion to help South America's largest economy fend off market jitters about whether the country would be able to meet its international debt payments.
However, the IMF said that only $6 billion of the loan could be used before the elections and reserved the right not to extend the rest of the cash to Brazil if the new president does not comply with economic policies set out under the loan.
Argentina, whose economy has been in a slump for four years, is currently negotiating with the IMF for new aid. The international agency cut off help to the country last December, citing the government's failure to end years of deficit spending.
Lula said that if elected, he may not ask the IMF for the rest of the money, saying "I'm going to work to make sure that Brazil does not need to take IMF money."
Lula, who has a reputation as a critic of American foreign policy and the IMF, repeated that the only cure for the South America's chronic economic woes is to develop a strong regional manufacturing and export platform.
In the interview, he repeated calls to shore up South American trade bloc Mercosur -made up of Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay and associate members Bolivia and Chile -and to avoid the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), which he once called "a plan to annex Latin America's market."
The latest survey by Brazilian polling institute Vox Populi showed 42% of voters plan to vote for Lula -a rise of 3 percentage points over the institute's previous poll released last week.
His closest rival, according to the poll, is government-backed candidate Jose Serra, a full 25% behind.
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