Brasília, July 5, 2004 (Agência Brasil) - President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva travels this week to Argentina, where he will participate in the Summit Meeting of Heads of State of the Mercosur and Associated States, on Wednesday (7), in Puerto Iguazu. On this date Brazil will assume the temporary presidency of the Mercosur.

At the meeting the Mercosur Permanent Court of Review will be installed, with headquarters in the city of Assunción, Paraguay. The Court will be the final arbiter of trade disputes among the bloc's member countries. The four heads of State will also receive the first project prepared by the Joint Parliamentary Commission for a Mercosur Parliament.

In addition, the Presidents of Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay will determine the work schedule for 2004-2006, an innovation in the Mercosur. The so-called pluriannual plan was approved in Montevideo last December.

MEXICO

The President of Mexico, Vicente Fox Quesada, who is negotiating Mexican admission to the bloc, will also attend the meeting in Argentina. The Brazilian General Undersecretary for South America, Ambassador Luiz Felipe Macedo Soares, said that Brazil is interested in beginning this "four plus one negotiation" to establish a free trade agreement with Mexico.

According to the Undersecretary, agreements between the four countries and Mexico already exist. They are not free trade accords, but they can provide a basis for speedier negotiations, he explained. Mexico would join the Mercosur as an Associated State. Macedo Soares added that the scale of Mexico's international trade is very large, with exports amounting to more than double of what Brazil sells abroad.

Reporter: Mayrluce Vilella
Translator: David Silberstein