Brasília - This morning president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva has a meeting scheduled with vice president and minister of Defense, José Alencar, at 9:30 am in the Palácio do Planalto. At 11:00 am, the president will have a meeting with the minister of National Integration, Ciro Gomes.

In the afternoon, Lula has a meeting at 3:30 pm, with professor Nicholas Negroponte of the Massachussets Institute of Technology (MIT). Following that, president Lula will have separate meetings with ministers Matilde Ribeiro, head of the Special Secretariat for the Promotion of Racial Equality Policies; Miguel Rossetto, of Agrarian Development; and Aldo Rebelo, head of the Secretariat of Political Coordination and Institutional Affairs.

Translator: Allen Bennett