Brazilian Foreign Minister says Friends of Venezuela group will meet in Brasilia

www.vheadline.com Posted: Friday, February 28, 2003 By: Robert Rudnicki

According to Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim the Friends of Venezuela group made up of Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Spain, Portugal and the United States is set to hold its next meeting on March 10, most probably in Brazil.

However, the Minister ruled out any chance of the group visiting Caracas to assess the situation as had been requested by opposition negotiator Timoteo Zambrano.

Regarding the recent arrest of Venezuelan Federation of Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Fedecamaras) president Carlos Fernandez and the issuing of arrest warrants for several other strike leaders, Amorim said the Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva found the issue difficult to understand, but assumed the warrants had been issued on judicial rather than political grounds.