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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | February 2007 
Calderón Aims to Woo Lula
 El Universal
| | President Calderón (L) met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Jan. 26 at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. |
The government is seeking to strengthen ties with Brazil to march "arm in arm" with that country toward Latin American integration, a government official said Saturday.
The official told EFE that the Calderón administration wants to strengthen relations with Brazil "at the highest level for the good of both countries and of the entire region."
"Mexico wants to march arm in arm with Brazil and other Latin American countries to build regional integration," the official said on condition of anonymity.
Felipe Calderón, in power since Dec. 1, said on several occasions that his six-year government´s foreign policy will look to the south and seek better relations with all Latin American countries, including Cuba and Venezuela.
Calderón´s predecessor and fellow National Action Party member Vicente Fox (2000- 2006) was often accused by commentators of giving preference to relations with the United States and Canada at the expense of Latin America, and especially of Cuba and Venezuela.
Calderón met with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva on Jan. 26 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
On that occasion, Calderón invited Lula to visit Mexico, and Lula is expected to visit sometime near the middle of the year, government sources have said.
Brazil and Mexico boast the two biggest economies of Latin America. The Foreign Relations Secretariat said Saturday in a communiqué that the deputy foreign secretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Gerónimo Gutiérrez, visited Brasilia last week in order to reaffirm Calderón´s "political will" to maintain a high-level dialogue between the two countries.
Gutiérrez also "followed up on the commitments made by Calderón and Lula da Silva during their meeting at Davos," according to the Foreign Relations Secretariat.
The deputy foreign secretary met with the assistant secretary general for South America at the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, Jorge d´Escragnolle Taunay, with whom he discussed bilateral and regional matters, the secretariat´s communiqué said.
It added that both officials also began preparations for "the coming visit to Brazil of Mexican Foreign Relations Secretary Patricia Espinosa, and for the celebration of the First Meeting of the Binational Commission." |
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