Brasília - The government's special adviser on Foreign Affairs, Marco Aurélio Garcia, affirmed today that, after dispatching a stabilization force to Haiti to help that country pull itself together, Brazil will send its soccer team there to convey a little bit of solidarity to a State that suffered severe blows to its politics and economy. Garcia was referring to the exhibition match that will be disputed between the Brazilian and Haitian national selections next Wednesday (18) in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will attend the event, which is sponsored by the Brazilian government and the Brazilian Soccer Confederation (CBF).

Garcia considers the situation in Haiti dramatic, but he points out that it is a situation that can be resolved fairly easily. "Any help provided to Haiti today will certainly have positive results," Garcia commented. He warned, however, that "political stabilization cannot come solely through the presence of troops. Together with this contingent of UN forces there, it is also necessary to assign a body of economic and social missions," he affirmed.

The special presidential adviser emphasized the Haitian people's passion for soccer, explaining that President Lula's decision to send the Brazilian selection to compete in a "peace match" in Haiti is part of a plan aimed at the establishment of a cooperative relationship with that country. In his view, the match between the Brazilian and Haitian selections is symbolic, an act of generosity. "Soccer is a great field of solidarity," he said.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Nelson Motta
Translator: David Silberstein
08/13/2004