“Everything possible to help Argentina”
www.falkland-malvinas.com Brazil’s new Foreign Affairs Minister and former Ambassador in London Celso Amorim said that doing everything possible to help Argentina, Brazil’s main partner in Mercosur, is a matter of solidarity but also of interest.
“For investors in foreign pension funds, Brazil and Argentina are the same, so the new Brazilian administration will have a more active participation in regional affairs, so long as we are asked to do so; we have no desire to interfere, but the current Brazilian process could be of inspiration for others”, said Mr. Amorim in an interview with the Argentina press.
Regarding Mercosur Mr. Amorim indicated that the ideal model should be based in a customs union, with free movement of people, capital, technology, so “we effectively become not only an economic space but a social space. This will enable us to jointly negotiate with other blocks and countries”.
Mr. Amorim anticipated the agenda for the coming visit next week of Argentine president Eduardo Duhalde to Brasilia to meet with counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva: “it’s an open agenda but priorities are the recovery of Mercosur, how to further advance in the integration of Mercosur with other blocks such as Free Trade Association of the Americas, the European Union, the Andean Group”.
“Distortions in Mercosur must be transitory, we must rapidly return to harmony, if not it won’t be a block. With out a clear understanding between Argentina and Brazil, there’s no Mercosur”, emphasized Mr. Amorim, adding that the Mercosur project is not only commercial but also political, and this means mending distortions in the Common External Tariff and creating supranational institutions such as a Mercosur parliament.
As to relations with the United States and the coming discussion involving FTAA, Mr. Amorim revealed that in talks with US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick Brazil pointed out that the incoming administration “can’t sacrifice the content of our proposal to a rigid timetable. We have to consult with industry, Congress and other sectors”.
However Mr. Amorim said the Lula administration was open to negotiate the FTAA, but Brazil is concerned about the size and of its industrial capacity, and “we’re going to defend our interests in the same way as the United States defends its own interests”.
Finally regarding the Lula administration’s foreign policy, Mr. Amorim stressed that a greater emphasis will be given to South America; a stronger stand in trade affairs, be it with the FTAA, European Union or the World Trade Organization, as well as reinforcing relations with other large developing nations such as South Africa, Russia, India and China.