<a href=www.vheadline.com>Venezuela's Electronic News Posted: Tuesday, May 06, 2003 By: Patrick J. O'Donoghue

According to Journal do Brasil broadsheet, Brazil plans to build 13 military posts along its borders with Colombia, Peru and Venezuela. 

The first of two posts was bulit last week on the border with Colombia (Vaupes Department)  allegedly to monitor and control incursions from the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC),  who allegedly are press-ganging Brazilian indians into their army.  

4 posts will go up along the Venezuelan border and 7 along the Peruvian border.

The Brazilian government will introduce a border census campaign in the Melo Franco town (20 kilometers from the border)  housing 30,000 inhabitants. 

Journal do Brasil reports that the Amazonia Monitoring System (AMS) will relay details of overflights in the area to clamp down on illegal activities, such as guerrilla incursions, narco-trafficking transshipments and damage to the environment. The AMS is said to be a complex system involving satellites, radars and planes to monitor the Amazon region.

05/05/2003 - Source: <a href=www.latintrade.com>LatinTrade-Latin American Newsletters

While President Lula da Silva has been thrashing out his tax and pension reforms, battling state governors, party radicals and union discontent (all covered in this issue), he has not shied away from presenting a grand 'development vision'.

Sharply critical of his predecessor Fernando Henrique Cardoso for concentrating on economic regeneration at the expense of any broader goals, Lula has pursued a vision that ironically bears some resemblance to that of the dictatorship: a more independent foreign policy breaking with traditional adherence to US-backed positions.

In Lula's vision, Brazil asserts its leadership in Latin America and embraces globalisation in so far as it benefits the country. Lula's strategy for moving Brazil away from merely reacting to the US hemispheric cue ball is to thrust the Mercosul trading bloc to the top of his foreign policy agenda and deepen integration with South American neighbours. He set himself the task of meeting every political leader in the region, something he will achieve soon when the leaders of French Guiana, Guyana and Suriname visit.

Earlier this month, he signed a 'strategic alliance' with Peruvian President Alejandro Toledo, which is a blueprint for a free trade agreement with the Andean Community, the regions' other big trading bloc. He met Venezuela's Hugo Chávez, who has expressed a keen interest in joining Mercosul, on 25 April and meets Bolivia's Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada and his cabinet on 29 April.

Stengthening Mercosul is a strategic priority for Brazil: a ballast against US unilateralism. Lula has been working to shore up support within the bloc ahead of Free Trade Area of the Americas' talks with the US. He sent personal letters to his counterparts in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay calling for a joint position on services, government purchases and investment.

The problem for Lula is that Mercosul is the centrepiece of his vision and it looks precarious: the bloc's future depends upon the outcome of Argentina's presidential election and if a new leader eschews Mercosul for closer ties with the US (see page 8). Uruguayan President Jorge Batlle, fresh from visiting Washington, is pushing for 'no more delays' in trade talks between Mercosul and the US. He visits Lula on 10 May.

Brazil is frustrated with Mercosul's trade spats, the most recent example being Argentina's decision to levy a duty on Brazilian sugar. This belies any common stance on agriculture before the FTAA. Brazil could be forced to start talking bilateral trade with the US after all.

<a href=ipsnews.net>Inter Press news Service Agency Mario Osava

The hard times that have befallen Latin American trade unions, dating to the early 1990s, have been aggravated in recent years by political factors in the region, but Brazil has proved a notable exception.

RIO DE JANEIRO, Apr 30 (IPS) - The hard times that have befallen Latin American trade unions, dating to the early 1990s, have been aggravated in recent years by political factors in the region, but Brazil has proved a notable exception.

The long-lived labour unions of Argentina, Mexico and Venezuela entered into existential crises when their links to the ruling political parties that had backed them for decades began to disintegrate, in contrast to the situation of Brazilian unionists today.

But the close ties to the still new Brazilian government of Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva for now has divided the country's largest union federation, CUT (Central Unica dos Trabalhadores).

The leftist wing of the CUT opposes what it considers the Lula administration's orthodox neoliberal economic policy. Lula, a former metalworker and a CUT founder, was inaugurated to the presidency Jan 1.

But the arrival of a leftist to power is precisely an indication of the importance the Brazilian union movement has gained in the past two decades.

In addition to Lula, nine ministers and another 56 high-level officials in the executive branch also come from the union ranks, nearly all from CUT, according to 'O Estado de Sao Paulo' newspaper.

But this presence does not translate into increased union influence over the government nor a strengthening of the labour movement, which has been undermined for more than a decade by the application of neoliberal policies that affect the work environment, say experts.

High unemployment, a growing informal sector, new technologies "that replace workers and introduced without negotiations with the workers" and the lack of labour law reform weakened the union movement, says Joao Carlos Juruna Gonçalves, secretary general of Força Sindical, Brazil's second largest union federation.

The government's fiscal austerity also cuts into social investments, which in turn hurt union programmes to provide training and assistance to the unemployed, Juruna pointed out in a conversation with IPS.

Nevertheless, unions in Brazil are generally in a better situation than their counterparts in the rest of Latin America because "their structure withstood years of neoliberalism without deteriorating" and now their prospects are good, says Anselmo Luis dos Santos, a union and labour researcher at the University of Campinas, near Sao Paulo.

The "clear failure" of past neoliberal economic policies and the reforms the Lula government is now proposing -- which cover tax, social security and labour -- in addition to his controversial economic policy, demand a debate and a mobilisation that reactivates the union movement, Dos Santos told IPS.

Furthermore, the global situation, "with the imperialism and unilateralism" of the United States, has generated protests and social movements that expand the role and take up the historic banners of unionism, he said.

All of this compensates in part for the "erosion suffered in the material foundations" of unionism, in other words, the loss of jobs in the formal sector and the expansion of informal work, which took its toll on the movement in the 1990s, says Dos Santos.

Força Sindical, which is not linked to the Lula administration, hopes to give itself a boost Thursday, May 1, by promoting what it has dubbed "the biggest global commemoration" of International Labour Day.

The union confederation aims to draw 1.7 million people to a central Sao Paulo plaza, where there will be concerts and a lottery to give away five apartments and 10 cars -- in addition to the speeches by Força Sindical leaders.

"It is something we learned from other countries, like Italy and France," which have seen similar crowds for May Day events in recent years, said Juruna.

The mainstream CUT, meanwhile, decided to decentralise the events planned for May 1, so there will be nine rallies in different districts and cities of the Greater Sao Paulo area.

CUT's leftist sector, which rejects Lula's economic platform, is organising a separate event in Sao Paulo.

Despite these divisions, the upward dynamic of Brazilian unionism stands in contrast to the struggles of other major Latin American unions, historically allied with parties that held power in their respective countries for extended periods.

Such is the case of the Workers' Confederation of Venezuela (CTV), which last year challenged President Hugo Chávez with labour strikes and supported Fedecámaras, the largest business association, in efforts to oust him after his administration sponsored a referendum to impose direct elections within the unions for the first time.

"There was not a renunciation of the class struggle in the CTV's alliance with Fedecámaras but there was agreement for strictly political ends," explains León Arismendi, professor of labour law at the Central University of Caracas.

"It was a question of survival. If the labour movement had not stood up to Chávez, he would have destroyed it," Arismendi said in comments to IPS.

The CTV, the main trade union and controlled by the social-democrat Democratic Action that ruled Venezuela in several government and is now in the opposition, is suffering the stress of continued confrontation with Chávez, who is encouraging the creation of the National Union of Workers.

"The new union will be short-lived, it will die at birth" like all organisations "that emerge under the protection of the main boss and are subsidised," commented Alfredo Ramos, a CTV leader.

In Argentina, the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), a long-time ally of the Justicialista (Peronist) Party, divided into two parts with similar scope of influence. Both fell into disgrace, alongside the country's political leaders, during the profound crisis that hit its worst point in late 2001.

One reaction to that rupture was the creation of the Argentine Workers' Central (CTA), made up primarily of teachers unions and other state employee s.

The CTA is working to integrate actions with several associations of "unemployed workers" that emerged during Argentina's economic debacle in the last 1990s with the aim of building an equivalent to the Brazilian Workers Party (PT), which carried Lula to the presidency.

The Confederation of Mexican Workers (CTM), meanwhile, is experiencing an upheaval following a much longer history. It was married 65 years to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which governed the country for 71 years until Vicente Fox won the 2000 presidential elections.

Fox, who in his electoral campaign had promised to fight the corruption and privileges associated with the unions linked to the PRI, has opted not to rock the boat in an effort to maintain political stability.

The CTM, in turn, did not follow through with its threat to stage a general strike, which ironically would have been the first in its long history.

Beyond these specific crises, trade unions in Latin America face unfavourable structural conditions, with an informal economy that absorbs around half of the labour force region-wide.

In Brazil, with a population of 170 million, there were just 27.2 million formal salaried workers -- a third of the economically active population -- in late 2001, according to figures from the Labour Ministry.

Of the 11.8 million-strong labour force in Venezuela, 52.3 percent were employed in the informal market in 2002.

Unemployment is a persistent problem, reaching 17.5 percent in Argentina, 12.1 percent in Brazil and 15.7 percent in Venezuela, according to official figures. (END)

<a href=>Reuters, 04.30.03, 12:18 PM ET By Susan Schneider

NEW YORK, April 30 (Reuters) - Brazilian sovereign bonds wriggled higher on Wednesday, building on year-to-date returns of nearly 33 percent as the country's sale of a $1 billion global bond -- its first in a year -- reinforced investors' hopes for the new government's economic policies.

Brazil's share of the J.P. Morgan Emerging Market Bond Index Plus added 0.87 percent in terms of daily returns, underpinned by a 0.5 point increase in the country's benchmark C bond <BRAZILC=RR> to 87.375 bid.

With the $1 billion issue, Brazil tapped into investors' giddiness for President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's record so far. Lula, the source of fierce angst on Wall Street last year because of his one-time talk of debt renegotiation, has seduced investors with his avowed reform agenda and fiscal austerity.

Investor optimism for Brazil continued to reign after the bond issue, which was increased from the government's original plans to sell a $750 million deal, as the country's debt clung to recent gains, said analysts and traders.

"This is the first test as to whether there would be profit-taking," and so far the bonds have held their ground, said Siobhan Manning, a Latin American debt strategist at the Italian investment bank Caboto.

On Wednesday morning, Brazil's Central Bank chief Henrique Meirelles hailed his nation's return to global capital markets as the end of the financial crisis that had pummeled Latin America's biggest economy last year ahead of the elections.

But in spite of the afterglow generated by the bond, Brazil's broader debt performance will hinge on Lula's ability to cement congressional support for his reforms, said analysts. Lula is expected to send Congress the tax and pension reform packages later on Wednesday.

The reform effort "is going to be important because for Brazil to test these levels on the upside, they need substantial progress on the reforms," said Manning.

The rosy mood in Brazil helped lift a number of its neighbors in Wednesday's session. Ecuador's debt added 1.89 percent on the day, while Venezuela jumped 1.39 percent and Colombia gained 0.41 percent, according to the EMBI-Plus.

"Basically the market is trading in a range this morning, sustaining gains from last night," but volume was light, said an emerging debt trader.

Argentina's bonds -- a marginal player in the market since the nation's debt default last year -- also churned higher as the debt recovered from this week's downturn fueled by disappointment over Sunday's first-round presidential election. The nation's share of the EMBI-Plus trekked up 2.45 percent.

Former Argentine President Carlos Menem took the biggest share of the votes but Gov. Nestor Kirchner came in a close second. Because the vote was split among a string of politicians, the two will battle it out in a May 18 run-off.

For now, Wall Street expects Kirchner to emerge victorious thanks to securing the support of some candidates eliminated on Sunday and because of Menem's high rejection rate among voters. Many Argentines blame Menem for laying the foundation of the country's messy currency devaluation and default.

Kirchner is less liked by Wall Street than Menem, who won over investors with free-market reforms during his two presidential terms in the 1990s. A key reason behind the sentiment is investors' view that Kirchner's debt restructuring proposals are less friendly to bondholders, analysts said.

Still, either candidate faces a long list of challenges after May 18, said Manning.

"Bottom line is that they both have a tough agenda," she said.

Brazil president aims for economically unified Latin region CNN-AP, Tuesday, April 29, 2003 Posted: 1526 GMT (11:26 PM HKT)

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) -- Pushing regional economic integration, Brazil's president met with his Bolivian counterpart in the latest summit highlighting the growing influence of South America's largest country.

Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Monday that he and Bolivian leader Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada agreed to improve roads and bridges to boost trade between the neighboring nations.

Silva, who has met with the presidents of Colombia, Peru and Venezuela in the past month, will get visits in May from the leaders Uruguay and Ecuador in the Brazilian capital.

Experts say the flurry of activity is 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.

The United States and Brazil will spearhead the negotiations to create the 34-nation bloc stretching from Alaska to the southern tip of Argentina.

Brazil and other South American countries have repeatedly said that FTAA negotiations won't go far unless the U.S. makes commitments to reduce tariff barriers on agricultural products such as orange juice and sugar.

Silva, a former union leader known for his negotiating skills with multinational firms, wants by December to merge two current Latin trading blocs -- Mercosur and the Andean Community.

Mercosur is made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay as members. Bolivia and Chile are associate members. The Andean grouping is made up of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

"If he (Silva) assembles the Andean nations and Mercosur into one trading bloc, Brazil and its neighbors certainly will have better bargaining power," said David Fleischer, a political science professor at the University of Brasilia.

U.S. Treasury secretary praises Brazil team

Despite his status as Brazil's first leftist leader and a friendship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro, Silva has made efforts to show he is willing to work with Washington.

He met last week with Treasury Secretary John Snow, who praised members of Silva's fiscally moderate financial team for dealing with the country's economic problems.

Many investors feared Silva would enact unorthodox economic policies that could lead Brazil to default on its massive foreign debt like its southern neighbor, Argentina. Since Silva's January 1 inauguration, those concerns have evaporated.

The presidential meetings between Silva and other South American leaders also appear designed to give Brazil a higher profile on the international front. Silva said over the weekend that the United Nations should be reformed.

He said the Security Council should be expanded beyond the current five permanent members -- United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia and China.

The visits to Brazil also show that Silva, the country's first elected leftist president, has a more aggressive approach on international relations than his predecessors.

Traditionally Brazil has been timid in conducting foreign affairs, but Silva has given a great emphasis to Latin America since taking office, Fleischer said.