Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is in Assuncion, Paraguay, for the 28th Mercosur Summit. He is accompanied by the ministers of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, and Mines and Energy, Dilma Rousseff.
Yesterday, Lula met with the presidents of the other Mercosur full members (Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay) and attended a dinner hosted by the President of Paraguay, Nicanor Duarte.
In 1996, Chile and Bolivia became associate members of Mercosur. At the last summit, in December 2004, Venezuela, Ecuador and Colombia also joined as associate members.
Lula is scheduled to have a private meeting with Hugo Chaves, president of Venezuela.
ABr