| When Luiz Inacio Lula
da Silva, a former union boss and
founder of the left-wing Workers Party, was elected Brazil's president
last year, many were predicting a stormy relationship with Washington.
But quite the opposite. US officials have heaed praise on the Brazilian
president's tightly controlled economic
policies and largely ignored his opposition to the Iraq war.
However, the two presidents do not see eye
to eye on the main topic due to be discussed - free trade.
Washington wants to try to stick to a hemisphere-wide
commitment to create a free trade
area from Alaska to Patagonia by 2005.
Lula, as the Brazilian president is known, wants to slow the
process down and has been busy rustling
up support amongst other Latin American leaders to stick
together over such thorny issues
as US farm and steel subsidies.
Lula also wants to prioritise Latin American trade and integration
on the model of the European Union before making close deals with
Washington. But despite such differences, there's little doubt
that the two countries look set
to enjoy a much closer relationship under two extremely different
leaders than most would have predicted a year ago.
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former union boss: he used to be
head of a trade union
tightly controlled economic policies: plans for the economy
under which money is spent carefully
do not see eye to eye on: do
not agree about
hemisphere-wide commitment: here,
agreements involving countries in North and South America
free trade area: a region where
goods are bought and sold without taxes
rustling up: gathering
thorny issues: difficult subjects
US farm and steel subsidies:
financial support from the US government to farmers and steel
producers
Integration: more closely
look set: will pobably
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