The main left-wing opposition presidential candidate in Brazil, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, has defended the recent spate of looting in the drought-stricken north-east of the country.

Speaking at the beginning of a visit to the region, Lula, as he's usually known, said people who were genuinely hungry had the right to take food where they could find it.

A few hours earlier the Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, repeated his party's condemnation of looting.

The BBC correspondent in Brazil says the plight of Brazil's north-east is rapidly becoming one of the most controversial political issues in the run-up to October's presidential elections.