Brazil's Lula favors bid by Venezuela to join BRICS

Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said on Monday he would support a bid by neighboring Venezuela to join the BRICS group of leading emerging nations, which includes his country, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Lula, who received Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro for a meeting in Brasilia, said the group would debate requests from "several countries" wanting to join BRICS when they meet for a summit in South Africa later this year.