MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine front-runner says Mercosur comes before FTAA.

The front-runner in Argentina's May 18 presidential run-off said here Thursday that he would give priority to strengthening the Mercosur trade bloc over efforts to establish the U.S.-sponsored Free Trade Area of the Americas

Nestor Kirchner, governor of the province of Santa Cruz, made the remarks on a visit to Brazil for talks with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

"Fundamentally, we are going to work to consolidate Mercosur," said Kirchner, referring to the trade bloc comprised by Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay and Paraguay, with Bolivia and Chile as associate members.

Kirchner said the Brazilian president shares his goal to promote the Southern Cone Common Market and seek new regional members.

"The FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) is an issue that will be discussed at a later date," he added in reference to the hemispheric-wide free trade zone scheduled to enter into effect in 2005. "There is still time to analyze the FTAA," he said public opinion polls show Kirchner, who has the backing of President Eduardo Duhalde, with a commanding 30-point lead over rival Carlos Menem, a former two-term head of state.

Though both men are members of the Peronist Party, Menem is associated with free-market policies while Kirchner is more of a social democrat.

"We Argentines want to deepen our integration with Brazil," Kirchner stressed, noting that closer ties between Mercosur's top two partners is fundamental to the trade bloc, the world's third largest after NAFTA and the European Union.

He praised his Thursday meeting with Lula as "highly productive," saying it confirmed that "uniformity and harmony" exist between the two countries regarding the goal to prioritize regional integration.

Kirchner, who arrived in Brasilia on Wednesday, was accompanied by Argentine Economy Minister Roberto Lavagna, who will also travel with the presidential hopeful to Chile today Friday, where they will meet with President Ricardo Lagos.