Michèlle Canes
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The president-elect of Bolivia, Evo Morales, will arrive in Brazil tomorrow (13) and be received by president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva. According to the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Relations (Itamaraty), the purpose of the visit is to reinforce the ties of cooperation between the two countries.

In a note, the Itamaraty affirms that, during their encounter, the two presidents are expected to talk about Bolivia's role in consolidating the South American Community of Nations. Together with Brazil and Peru, Bolivia is a member of the Community's Troika and is the likely host of the II Summit Meeting of Heads of State of the Community, to be held sometime later this year.

According to the president of the Association of Bolivian Residents in São Paulo, Gil Teodoro Morales, the meeting between the two presidents affords an opportunity for new bilateral alliances. "I believe that the participation of the Bolivian government is of great importance for us to conduct meaningful negotiations, such as agreements to improve the two countries in all aspects, social and economic as well as political," he remarked.

In his view, both countries can benefit from the exchange of experiences in various areas, such as agrarian reform, for example. "In this sense, we have one experience, and you have others, so we need to share them and encourage exchanges," he added.

Brazil and Bolivia are major partners in natural gas production. Data from the Brazilian Gas Distributors' Association (ADEGAS), referring to December, 2005, indicate that 44% of the gas consumed in Brazil comes from Bolivia. Since 1996 Petrobras has been engaged in the discovery and production of gas reserves to feed the Brazil-Bolivia gas pipeline.

Translation: David Silberstein