The President Dilma Rousseff said yesterday, 12/01, in Caracas, that Brazil has increased trade by 25% with Latin American countries. For Dilma, regional integration will serve as "engine" for the development of the 33 countries of South America and the Caribbean. According to her, social inclusion and sustainable development must guide the proposals of partnerships within the region.

"The productive integration with neighboring countries is an essential part of our strategy to find growth and empowerment of people, in order to get them from poverty and providing opportunities," said Dilma.

"I understand that we are in another phase. We can build an integration that is really productive and that leads us to the growth of economies and of our people. And that should lead us to a process that is not marked by the exploitation of one country by another", she added.

One of the key subjects approached in the conversation with the President of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, was the works on the refinery Abreu e Lima, at Ipojuca, in the metropolitan region of Recife. Being built jointly by Brazil and Venezuela since 2007, the project should only be completed in 2012.

In parallel, Dilma and Chavez signed 11 bilateral agreements involving the construction of popular houses, actions in the areas of agriculture, science and technology, oil, energy, the increasing of economic and trade relations. The idea is to expand the planting of soy used as animal feed.

Dilma is in Caracas to attend the 3rd Summit of Heads of State and Government of Latin America and the Caribbean (Calc) and 1st Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (Celac).

02 December 2011