Brasília - The presidents of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Argentina, Nestor Kirchner, had a meeting in Rio de Janeiro yesterday morning, followed by lunch at the Copacabana Palace hotel. The ministers of Finance, Antonio Palocci, Planning, Budget and Management, Guido Mantgega, and Foreign Affairs, Celso Amorim, also participated.

In the afternoon Lula returned to Brasilia for a meeting with mayors from all over Brazil who had marched to the capital as part of a Municipality Defense demonstration. (AB)