Brasília - The Minister of National Integration, Ciro Gomes, affirmed today that regional disparities face the country with the "risk of fragmentation." According to the Minister, inequalities among regions have worsened in the past ten years. "These factors were aggravated dramatically during the eight years that preceded Lula's government. It is undeniable that this phenomenon poses the country with a risk of fragmentation," he declared.

Gomes was reporting to the members of the Economic and Social Development Council on the policy developed by his Ministry to promote regional development.

The Minister reminded his listeners that, just as globalization imposes differences among countries, it also causes internal imbalances, since differences exist among regions in terms of production, entrepreneurship, and labor.

In his view, all the instruments and institutions created to promote regional development were dismantled during the last decade. "President Lula's orientation was to restore and legitimate the concept, not as a way to return to the past, but as a modern concept," he said.

Gomes explained that, although Brazil continues to be unequal, one can no longer refer to the poor North, Northeast, and Center-West, in contrast to the rich Southeast and South. "In Brazil this is at best a partial truth," he asserted. The Minister displayed maps that reveal areas of prosperity in all regions of the country.

Agência Brasil
Reporter: Paula Medeiros
Translator: David Silberstein
09/02/2004