New York, December 10, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - Yesterday (9), president Fernando Henrique Cardoso urged the approval of essential reforms so that Brazil can maintain growth based on dialogue and peace.

Cardoso mentioned, in particular, tax, political, and Social Security reforms. "We need to improve our tax system and eliminate problems that limit our capacity to compete in the international economy. We need to find, once and for all, a solution to the question of social security, and we need to reform our political structure," he affirmed.

The president said, also, that the elections in October confirmed the consolidation of democracy and, in this sense, he said that he will leave the government on January 1, satisfied that his efforts bore fruit. "As a future ex-president I will derive greatest satisfaction from reflecting on the true meaning of all the statistics, in human terms," he said. (DAS)