MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Ready for the (500 billion US dollars) Rio Declaration

Argentina trusts that presidents Nestor Kirchner and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will agree on a strategy, “more or less homogeneous”, to discuss about their huge foreign debts with multilateral organisations, said Argentine Minister of Interior Aníbal Fernández in Buenos Aires.

"We expect Mr. Kirchner and Mr. Lula da Silva to define a more or less homogeneous line of thinking regarding the debt issue", when the two presidents meet this Tuesday in Rio do Janeiro.

However Mr. Fernández cautioned that when discussing the debt issue "it's virtually impossible to compare or mate the two cases because asymmetries are too big".

The two Mercosur main partners have a total debt close to 500 billion US dollars, Brazil 300 billion and Argentina 180 billion.

"This strategic alliance we're planning and on which we'll be focusing in Rio do Janeiro is crucial for the integration process and for our positioning vis-à-vis the multilateral credit organizations", said President Kirchner before leaving for Brazil.

"Regional integration is a strategic option to strengthen the insertion of our countries in the world, increasing our integration capacity, there is much to advance in this common area of interest".

Presidents Kirchner and Lula da Silva "will be defining the future of our relation with the developed world regarding investments and credit", said Argentine Ambassador in Brazil Juan Jose Lohé.

The Rio do Janeiro Declaration will be announced this Tuesday.