Brasília, October 10, 2003 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Starting now, Itamaraty will inform Ministers in the areas involved in negotiations over the creation of the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) how the negotiations are going. The decision was made at a luncheon in the Planalto Palace attended by various Ministers and President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, who also intends to participate in the discussions, according to information provided on Wednesday (8) by the Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim. "It is up to the Ministry of Foreign Relations to conduct the negotiations. We carry out these negotiations, but it is necessary to maintain permanent communication," Amorim commented.
In recent days criticisms have been voiced by the Ministers of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues, and Development, Luiz Fernando Furlan, about the way the team headed by Amorim handled the Brazilian position at the final FTAA preparatory meeting, in Trinidad and Tobago, without communication with the Ministries involved. According to the two Ministers, the members of the Chamber of Foreign Trade were not informed about Brazil's decisions. "There was nothing new in the proposal made by the Mercosur in Trinidad and Tobago. It was merely cast in the language of a presidential declaration," the Minister of Foreign Relations contended.
Amorim also denied that Brazil had adopted an intransigent position and, consequently, been isolated by the other negotiators. "This idea of isolation is either some kind of persecution complex or a tactic to undermine positions. We have a position. We want to discuss proposals, and our proposals are practical and pragmatic. We are not bargaining anything. We are not intransigent," Amorim declared, arguing that Brazil wants to discover solutions to issues of interest to the country, without forgetting that other countries removed from the negotiating agenda items important to the Mercosur, such as farm subsidies and anti-dumping policies.
The Minister was emphatic in denying that he is opposed to the formation of the FTAA. "I am not against the FTAA. I am for a sovereign negotiation on the FTAA, taking into account Brazil's long-term interests, as well as short-term commercial interests," he declared. Besides Amorim, the meeting with President Lula was attended by Ministers Furlan, José Dirceu (Presidential Civilian Advisory Staff), Antônio Palocci (Finance), Jaques Wagner (Labor), and the Presidential adviser for international affairs, Marco Aurélio Garcia. (DAS)
