Chavez and Lula Cultivate Unity
Brazil s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and Venezuela s Hugo Chavez are due to hold talks in this city on Thursday on joint projects.
This is the first meeting of the two statesmen after being re-elected on October 29 and December 3, respectively.
Both leaders are committed to their voters, which despite language differences and characteristics of their countries, they have a common theme: regional integration.
Chavez arrived in this capital on Wednesday night accompanied by seven ministers of his cabinet, and immediately went to La Alborada Palace to have dinner with Lula.
Thursday s agenda includes, among other things, analyzing the Brazil-Venezuela strategic alliance agreed in February 2005, the PETROBRAS-PDVSA society, the Great Gas Pipeline of the South and the joint oil exploitation in the Orinoco Strip.
Also on the table are regional affairs like the South American Community of Nations and Venezuela s entrance to MERCOSUL.
(Published by Prensa Latina, December 07, 2006)