Brazilian leader presses economic integration

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Brazil's leftist president pushed his idea of regional economic integration in talks with his Bolivian counterpart in Brasilia yesterday - the latest in a string of summit meetings reflecting Brazil's growing influence.

"Latin American integration will no longer be a sentimental" notion, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said after he and Bolivian leader Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada agreed to a plan to improve roads and bridges to boost trade.

The leaders of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela have visited in the past month, and the presidents of Uruguay and Ecuador will come to the Brazilian capital this month. Experts say the flurry of activity represents a message to the United States: A united South America will negotiate hard over terms of a proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas trade zone.