MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Lula says FTAA ?off agenda'

The US-backed Americas-wide free trade pact is “off the agenda” for Brazil, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said yesterday, days before a visit by Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

"For two years FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) has not been discussed in Brazil, because we took it off the agenda," President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said in a speech to Latin American labour unionists.

"How did we take it off the agenda?" he asked. "By strengthening Mercosur, creating the South American community of nations and creating a new standard of relations between the nations of South America."

Rice is due to arrive in Brazil early next week for a visit during which FTAA was expected to be discussed.

Brazil's support is considered essential to the FTAA because its economy, population and land mass all represent about 45 percent of South America's total. But it has been stalled by disagreements over issues like access for Brazilian farm goods to US markets.

FTAA has been discussed since the early 1990s and envisages a free trade area stretching from the southern tip of South America all the way to Alaska and including every country in the Americas except for Cuba.

No real progress has been made in the negotiations for the last few years and a target date for the introduction of the FTAA in January this year was missed.

Since coming to power at the beginning of 2003, Lula's government has focused on strengthening links within Latin America and bringing it closer together through proposals like creating a political grouping of South America countries.

The Mercosur customs union, which groups Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay, has also been a priority for Lula.

"We tried to create awareness that it was possible to create another mechanism for our economies so that our economies do not remain dependent on the world's biggest economy," Lula said