Brasília, September 26, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The vice-president of the Brazilian National Conference of Bishops (CNBB), Don Antônio Celso Queiroz, expressed today the CNBB's expectation that, in keeping with a promise made by President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, the government will launch an agrarian reform plan this year, together with the implantation of a project for agricultural policy.

Don Queiroz made this declaration during a collective interview at the organization's headquarters, and he said that he considers President Lula's position coherent, to promote an agrarian reform that really enables rural dwellers to produce and improve their social conditions.

In his view, agrarian reform can make a significant contribution to the reduction of unemployment in the country. (DAS)