MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Spanish president visits Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

Spanish president Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero began Sunday an official visit to the Southern Cone, --the first since taking office--, which will take him to Brazil, Argentina and Chile.

The Spanish delegation includes Foreign Secretary Miguel Angel Moratinos, Industry, Trade and Tourism Minister Jose Montilla and several other Deputy Ministers. Mr. Rodriguez Zapatero will be meeting with Presidents Lula da Silva, Nestor Kirchner and Ricardo Lagos plus gatherings with the Spanish communities of Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires and Santiago de Chile, the most numerous in the world.

Besides trade and investment, the political agenda of the Spanish president includes ironing out mechanisms to make effective the exchange of sovereign debt for education programs and organizing the "Alliance against hunger" one of President Lula da Silva's pet projects.

Other issues include European Union-Cuba relations; the UN operation to rescue Haiti from misery and instability where Mercosur members and Spain are playing a decisive role; United Nations reform; the future of the Organization of American States; the coming Ibero-American summit in Salamanca and the recent Colombia-Venezuela crisis.

Brazilian Ambassador in Madrid Osmar Chohfi also emphasized that Brazil is longing for a "a rapid conclusion" to the negotiations for a trade agreement between Mercosur and the EU.