Chavez, Lula talk energy cooperation, regional defense council

The presidents of Venezuela and Brazil, Hugo Chavez and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, flew to this northern Brazilian city Wednesday to discuss energy cooperation and the creation of a regional defense council. Chavez was also to raise his country's bid to join Mercosur, the South American free trade bloc grouping Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, officials said. The two leaders were to begin their meeting with a tour of a four-billion-dollar refinery being built on the outskirts of Recife that, once completed, will produce 200,000 barrels per day.