Mylena Fiori
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Brasília - The president of Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, is in Brazil on his first State visit to this country. He met today (18) with president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, after which the meeting was enlarged to include ministers from both countries.

He also visited the National Congress and the Federal Supreme Court. "It was a formal visit, since we just had a broad meeting in Puerto Iguazu (Argentina)," explained the general undersecretary for South America in the Ministry of Foreign Relations, ambassador José Eduardo Martins Felício.

During the Friendship Day commemorations between Brazil and Argentina, on November 30, 2005, in Puerto Iguazu, the two countries signed more than 20 agreements in areas such as nuclear energy, cooperation in space, telecommunications, defense, energy, education, and culture.

The presidents also discussed items on the regional and international agenda, such as expansion of the Mercosur, consolidation of the South American Community of Nations, and the stabilization process in Haiti. According to the ambassador, the Haitian question is of interest to both countries, since Argentina also contributed troops to the peace mission.

Translation: David Silberstein