Brasília, 12/6/2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - The president of Uruguay, Jorge Batlle, says that Mercosur problems are more political than financial. He announced that the joint declaration to be issued at the end of this week's summit in Brasilia will include a motion in favor of support for Argentina.

During the summit, Batlle met privately with president-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to discuss bilateral relations. (AB)