BRAZIL: Latin American Presidents meet in Rio De Janeiro for second day of Mercosur trade summit talks

Latin American presidents meet in Brazil for a second day of trade talks with all eyes on Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez and his socialist vision for the region. The Mercosur members -- Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay -- are joined by the leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and other countries at the two-day summit at a luxury hotel on the famed Copacabana seafront. Leaders from a number of Latin American nations continued talks on Friday (January 19) on the second and final day of the Mercosur meeting in Rio de Janeiro. Following a day of meetings and negotiations on Thursday, Mercosur leaders took a break to enjoy a relaxed dinner, followed by a samba show. On Friday, all eyes again were on Latin America's leftist bloc. Bolivia's President Evo Morales gave a news conference, where he told journalists he will move ahead with plans to nationalize the country's mining sector. Morales said his government is carefully studying details of the plan and that it would not be a blanket nationalization of the entire mining industry. "Where the companies have invested, they will get special treatment so that they can recover their investments. But, where there weren't investments by these companies, those will be nationalized," he said. Morales, a staunch ally of the leftist leaders like Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, also spoke about his cold relationship with Mexico. Ex-President Vicente Fox denied Morales a visa to enter the country for a trade meeting in Cancun and the Bolivian leader said he has no contact with newly-elected Felipe Calderon. "I don't keep contact with Mexico's new president, since last year his partner discriminated, be-littled and humiliated me publicly and I have information that the new president has this same tendency." But he said that he would still respect him and put up with any humiliation, maintaining relations and searching for relationships to allow them to become stronger. Morales nationalized Bolivia's energy industry in May 2006 and officials have repeatedly said they want to reform the mining industry and were considering tax increases. During the final day of the summit, the presidents of the Mercosur trade bloc and chancellors, met for an open meeting where they discussed more general matters and integration plans, including the inclusion of Bolivia in Mercosur. Brazil's Lula openly welcomed the addition of Bolivia to the group. "Welcome to our Bolivian brothers and all those who want to enter our trade bloc," Lula said on Friday. Lula also called on regional leaders to increase efforts to booster cooperation and stressed that all members of Mercusur must observe and respect democratic values. Argentina's President Nestor Kirchner defended the strengthening of two central integration projects, the creation of a southern bank and the construction of a gas pipeline. Kirchner said he believes the bloc can successfully follow through with projects such as a pipeline slated to run from Venezuela to Argentina and the implementation of single currency for the region similar to the Euro. "We are capable of beginning the generation of the works for the infrastructure of a bank for South America, the southern gas pipeline, a single currency," the Argentine president said. The idea a South America bank was recently presented by Chavez so the nations of the region could stop 'begging' from international institutions the IMF and the World Bank. Although Kirchner supported the idea, Brazilian officials were cautious, indicating they would rather use existing institutions. The Mercosur members -- Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay joined by the leaders of Bolivia, Ecuador, Chile and other countries, are still gathered at the at a luxury hotel on the famed Copacabana seafront.

ITN Source | January 20, 2007

Tags:. .integration. .famed. .dinner. .cooperation. .sector