TANZANIA – Brazil’s president said Wednesday he was as surprised as U.S. President Donald Trump when they met by chance and “there was some chemistry,” given the deteriorating relations between the two largest economies in the Americas.

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva told a news conference that their first-ever encounter made him “very happy” and “optimistic” about the possibility of Brazil and the U.S. holding a meeting as soon as possible and doing away with the “bad feeling” in Brazil-U.S. relations.

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