BRASILIA, April 30 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela will sign a "special treaty" to buy ethanol from Brazil, despite the two countries' past disagreements over biofuels, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said on Monday.

    "Venezuela needs an important quantity of ethanol," Maduro told journalists in Brasilia after meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Celso Amorim.

    Maduro also said the personal friendship and political confidence between Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is solid.

    Brazil is the world's largest ethanol producer and Venezuela is the world's fifth biggest oil exporter.

    Chavez and Cuban leader Fidel Castro had criticized plans by the United States and Brazil to promote ethanol production in Latin America and Africa.