Brazil’s Lula says he encouraged Obama to go to Copenhagen, lobby for Chicago bid

Brazil’s Lula: I urged Obama to lobby for Olympics

COPENHAGEN — Brazil’s president says he’s not worried that U.S. President Barack Obama is coming to Denmark to lobby that Chicago and not Rio de Janeiro should win the 2016 Olympics.

After arriving in Copenhagen, President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva says he encouraged Obama to make an appearance.

Said Silva on Wednesday: “I actually told Obama to come. He said his wife would come, and then I said: ‘It’s important you go because I will go with (my wife) Marisa. That would be two against one.”

Silva also says he doesn’t see the lobbying effort as a rivalry with Obama.

And he once again predicted a win for Brazil, which would be the first South American nation to host the games.

He said: “I am very optimistic and believe in Rio’s victory.”