Speaking as a guest at the G7 Summit in Hiroshima, Japan, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said today that the payment conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) on Argentina’s foreign debt are “destroying” the country.

“Foreign debt, which has burdened Brazil in the past and is now destroying Argentina, is the cause of a flagrant and growing inequality that requires that the IMF consider the social consequences of its austerity policies,” said Lula in the first of two speeches he delivered at the summit.

The Brazilian President is the only Latin American leader who was invited to the G7 summit, the annual gathering of the intergovernmental forum formed by the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and Japan.