Brasília - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, speaking at a preparatory meeting for the VIII Summit of Iberian-American Chief Justices, declared that, "In a globalized world, where powerful eoconomic blocks deal the cards, the little guys have to join forces. Either the countries of South American unite to face the rich nations or we will be condemned to spending decades as victims of rules made by rich nations. The rules they make are unjust and protect only the rich nations."

Lula said that during his 13 months in office the priority of his administration has been Brazil's relations with South America and the rest of Latin America. As for Mercosur, he said that soon it will be expanding to include other nations. "We want the rest of the world to see that we are a united continent, led by leaders committed to integration in fact, not just words," he said. (AB)