Brasília, March 23, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - The Executive Committee of the Parliamentary Confederation of the Americas (Copa) meets today in Brasília to discuss the political crisis in Haiti and trade negotiations related to the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA). The function of the Committee, created at the Summit of the Americas in 1997, is to accompany the democracies of the Americas and evaluate the FTAA proposals from the perspective of a parliamentary group with representatives from 35 countries, including the United States and Cuba.

Another issue that will be debated by the Copa is the situation in Haiti, whose democratically elected President, Jean-Bertrand Aristide, was deposed by a military coup at the beginning of this month. The Copa will deliver its official position on the Haitian situation at the end of the meeting in Brasília.

Translator: David Silberstein