MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Brazil congratulates reelected president Bush.

Brazilian president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva sent this Wednesday a salutation message to his US counterpart George W. Bush “warmly congratulating him for his significant victory” in the presidential election.

In the message President Lula da Silva underlines the "remarkable" development of bilateral relations and the "vivid and fluid dialogue" between both countries which has generated "beneficial results not only bilaterally but also in addressing numerous international issues".

"The vitality of our democracies is one among many factors of convergence and closeness between Brazil and United States".

Finally Lula da Silva said he was convinced "we can continue to deepen friendship links and the beneficial relations between Brazil and the United States, as well as advance in our joint world level aspirations such as overcoming poverty, insecurity and the other causes of disequilibrium and instability in the framework of a fairer and democratic world order".

Earlier in the day in Buenos Aires, a few minutes after Senator John Kerry admitted defeat Argentine Minister of Interior Anibal Fernandez acknowledged that "it would be dishonest if we said we had a rough time with President Bush". "With the Republicans we have established a relation which satisfies me", admitted Argentine Foreign Affairs minister Rafael Bielsa.

The general feeling in Latinamerican governments was that if a Democrat became president, and given the emphasis of the campaign, he would be more responsive to the demands of the US workers unions when it came to dealing with trade agreements and opening markets.

Only two governments in the region did not show that attitude, Fidel Castro in Cuba and to a certain extent Hugo Chavez from Venezuela. "We will hope that in this second mandate we can improve our relations", said Jesus Perez, Venezuela's Foreign Affairs minister.