Brasília - Today president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva ends his visit to Algeria with meetings with government authorities, an exchange of decorations with the president and the signing of four agreements in trade, maritime shipping, agriculture and animal and plant sanitation.

The president and his committee also discussed the Algerian embargo on Brazilian beef following reports of cases of foot and mouth disease in Mato Grosso do Sul last year. they will also open an exposition of photographs on Arabs in South America.

After a lunch this afternoon in his honor offered by the government of Algeria, Lula will travel to Cotonou, in Benin, the next stop on his five-day trip to Africa. Lula returns to Brazil on Sunday, February 12.

Translation: Allen Bennett