Bono suggests a "planetary Bolsa Família" program to Lula.

247 - Irish musician Bono Vox is clearly an admirer of Brazilian social programs combating hunger and poverty. In a meeting this Tuesday afternoon with former President Lula, the U2 frontman even suggested that the two join forces for the same goal. He also has experience in the area, having created an NGO that operates in African countries. "Let's do this together," he told the former president.

This is not the first time Bono has discussed the matter with Lula. In 2006, he expressed his interest in the former president by donating a guitar to the Zero Hunger program. In 2011, he requested a meeting with the former president, which took place in São Paulo, and at the time, he proposed that Brazilian experiences be disseminated in Africa. The musician also expressed interest in working with the Lula Institute, which had not yet been created.

Perhaps now is the time for action to be put into practice. The two agreed to meet again soon to exchange reports on their respective activities, and have already confirmed that they will be together in the stands of Corinthians' new stadium for the opening of the 2014 World Cup in São Paulo. 

Read below the news article about the meeting published on the website of Lula Institute:

What was supposed to be a reunion of two friends ended up turning into a productive working meeting. On Tuesday afternoon (9), in London, former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Irish musician Bono, leader of the band U2, talked for an hour and spoke about the Bolsa Família program, food security, hunger in Africa and, of course, football, a passion of both.

At the request of the rock musician and social activist, Lula summarized the social inclusion programs carried out in Brazil during his administration, which allowed more than 30 million people to be lifted out of absolute poverty. With a pencil in hand, the former president presented Bono with a startling calculation:

"Add the $9,5 trillion spent to bail out American and European banks after the 2008 crisis, plus the $1,7 trillion poured by the US into the Iraq war, and you get more than $11 trillion. This means that the resources thrown into the banking spree and the invasion of Iraq would be enough to set up a mega-family allowance program that would support all the world's poor for 150 years."

According to Bono, after former South African president Nelson Mandela, facing health problems, retired from politics, Lula naturally became the world's leading interlocutor for the poor.

"Lula, you are the only interlocutor capable of speaking with capitalists and socialists, with leaders of rich countries and with leaders of the Third World."

The musician proposed combining the efforts of the Lula Institute and the non-governmental organization ONE, created and directed by Bono to disseminate and promote programs against hunger and poverty in African countries. He also revealed that, with the support of Bill Gates and investor George Soros, ONE has been implementing a food production project in the Tanzanian savanna, inspired by the work of the Brazilian company Embrapa in Ghana.

At the end of the meeting, Bono issued a challenge to the former president of Brazil:

"You are the only person today capable of leading an international crusade to transform Bolsa Família into a global program that serves all the world's poor! Come on, I'll join you and we'll do this together!"

Lula and Bono were supposed to meet again soon to exchange reports on their respective activities, and they've already made a decision: the two will be together in the stands of Corinthians' new stadium for the opening of the 2014 World Cup.