Brasília, 1/10/2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The new secretary general at the Foreign Relations Ministry, Samuel Pinheiro Guimarães, says that as he approaches the negotiating table he likes to keep in mind the biblical story of Esau, the oldest son of Issac and Rebakah, who sold his birthright to his younger brother Jacob for a plate of lentils. According to Guimarães, the lesson from the story of Esau and Jacob is that you must always remember that a short-term gain may become a long-term loss.

Guimarães denied he was saying anything about the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations with the story, explaining that he will follow policy decisions made by minister Celso Amorim and president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. He added that both Amorim and Lula have made it clear that the interests of the Brazilian people and the strategic needs of the country always come in first place. (AB)