Washington, December 11, 2002 (Agência Brasil - ABr) - President-elect Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said yesterday (10) that his encounter at the White House with U.S. president George W. Bush began a new cycle in relations between Brazil and the United States. According to Lula, the US is Brazil's chief individual partner, and the Brazilian government is interested in expanding exports to the United States as well as other countries.

To this end, he pointed out, it is necessary for Brazil to hold frank discussions with its opposite numbers, to defend Brazilian desires. He recalled that Americans also have desires, and, therefore, it is necessary to hold very open, frank conversations, so that from these understandings might arise agreements in which everybody ends up winning. "They say that a good agreement is one in which both sides leave happy. I think that this is possible in our relations," Lula affirmed. (DAS)