Brazil’s Lula Warns that Mercosur Needs to Mature Fast to Achieve Integration

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, of Brazil, said today that the larger countries in Mercosur, namely Brazil and Argentina, must help the smaller ones – Paraguay and Uruguay – develop themselves.

"My thesis is that stronger countries should always be more generous in order to help the poorer ones," he said, after attending the opening of the Consultative Forum of Mercosur Municipalities, States, Provinces and Departments, at the Intercontinental Hotel, in the southeastern Brazilian city of Rio de Janeiro.

Lula was discussing the proposal made by Brazil for making some of the trade rules for Paraguay and Uruguay more flexible, with the objective of increasing exports of those countries to the remaining countries in the bloc. The issue is under discussion at the Mercosur Summit, taking place today and tomorrow in Rio, but is meeting resistance from Argentina.

"That was how the European Union managed to help in the development of Spain, Portugal and Greece, and now they are helping their new partners develop," said the Brazilian president. "That is what larger countries should do," he claimed.

In Lula's assessment, integration between South American countries must be fully-fledged: political, cultural, social, economic and commercial.

"The businessmen know how to do their work, but governments must evolve in order to understand that we must cater to the interests of other countries instead of just seeking to serve our own interests," the president claimed.

Lula added, though, that South America is aware of the fact that "we must either grow politically and mature fast, overcoming the smaller problems in each country, or we will finish our terms in office without achieving integration."

Anba – www.anba.com.br

Tags:

You May Also Like

IMF Lauds Brazil But Also Urges Budgetary Reform

IMF’s managing director Rodrigo de Rato, during a press conference in Singapore, Friday, September ...

Brazil and South America Split over US-Colombia Military Cooperation

Brazil and neighbors finally issued this past Friday, a statement warning "foreign military forces" ...

Brazil’s Lula Has Become a Tough and Successful Globe-Trotting Salesman

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said that discussions for a Free Trade ...

LatAm’s Ill Is Not Chavez But Misery and Lack of Education, Says Brazil’s Lula

Brazil's President, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said on Thursday, April 26, he believes ...

The Exasperating Rules and Fine Print of Brazil’s Political Campaigning

Elections in Brazil are tightly controlled by the Federal Election Board (Tribunal Superior Eleitoral ...

Common Goals and Challenges in Brazil-US’s Agenda

The United States and Brazil share an important common agenda to further democracy in ...

In Brazil Only 51% of Cities Have Sewers and a Mere 15% Treat Sewage

To fulfill the Goals of the Millennium, the group of norms approved by the ...

Brazil and Canada to Discuss Haiti in Argentina

The Prime Minister of Canada, Paul Martin, will meet with President Luiz Inácio Lula ...

Boeing Betting Brazil and LatAm Will Buy Over 1700 Jets the Next 20 Years

For Mike Barnett, marketing director for Latin America of US jet manufacturer Boeing, the ...

Best-seller Books, Plays and Movies

Since its inception, the MMTR (Rural Women Workers’ Movement) has undergone a major transformation ...

WordPress database error: [Table './brazzil3_live/wp_wfHits' is marked as crashed and last (automatic?) repair failed]
SHOW FULL COLUMNS FROM `wp_wfHits`