Brazil's Lula to Seek Seat for Cuba at Next Rio Group Summit

May 24 (<a href=quote.bloomberg.com>Bloomberg) -- Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said he will ask members of the Rio Group of 19 Latin American nations to allow Cuba's presence at the organization's annual summit next year in Brazil.

The Rio Group, which serves as a forum for cooperation among members, has excluded Cuba since its creation in 1986.

``Since the next meeting is in Brazil, I plan to consult all members of the Rio Group so that Cuba could take part, at least as a special guest, in our meeting,'' Lula, a former union leader, said in a press conference at the end of this year's Rio Group summit in Cuzco, Peru, 1,165 kilometers (725 miles) southeast of Lima.

In the two-day Cuzco summit, Rio Group presidents agreed in to support an accord between Venezuelan leader Hugo Chavez's government and the opposition for a referendum. Presidents also called for the United Nations to push rebels to join peace talks in Colombia.

The Rio Group includes Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.

The group doesn't have a permanent headquarters office and only works around annual presidential meetings. Last Updated: May 24, 2003 14:35 EDT