Carolina Gonçalves
Reporter TV Nacional

Assuncion - President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva is in Assuncion, Paraguay, for the 28th Mercosur Summit. He is accompanied by the ministers of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, and Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff.

Yesterday Lula met with the presidents of the other Mercosur members (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and attended a dinner hosted by the president of Paraguay, Nicanor Duarte.

In 1996, Chile and Bolivia became associate members of Mercosur. At the last summit, in December 2004, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia became associate members. Lula is scheduled to have a private meeting with Hugo Chaves, president of Venezuela.

Translator: Allen Bennett