Brasília, November 20, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - During a breakfast at the official residence of the president of the Chamber of Deputies, president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva called for the creation of an American Parliament, similar to the European Parliament of the European Union (EU). This information was furnished by Lula's spokesman, journalist André Singer, who said that the president-elect greeted the approximately 50 participants in the Parliamentary Summit with the suggestion that the process of integration to form the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) should begin with political negotiations and later move on to regional social and economic issues.

The Parliamentary Summit on Continental Integration assembles representatives from 35 countries in the Chamber of Deputies. (DAS)