Venezuela and Brazil discuss the bilateral agenda

The governments of Venezuela and Brazil today discussed issues of bilateral interest, said official sources.

In a telephone conversation, Venezuelan and Brazilian Foreign Ministers Yvan Gil and Mauro Vieira respectively reviewed the agenda to further advance for the well-being of the two peoples.

Recall that on 20 June Caracas and Brasilia fulfilled the commitments specified in the declaration signed by Presidents Nicolas Maduro and Luz Inacio Lula da Silva at the end of May in Brazil.

The statement said that during the working meeting, the delegations agreed on joint actions in the field of bilateral trade to achieve greater coordination of the economic and trade situation.

In this regard, it was decided to establish an administrative commission, as provided for in the Agreement on the Complementarity of Economic Relations (ACE-69) signed on 27 December 2012.

In addition to mutual commitments to combat cross-border smuggling, a Brazilian-Venezuelan working commission for the evaluation of Brazilian products of animal and plant origin was established.

The two sides agreed to meet in the near future to set up appropriate technical round tables with a view to resuming bilateral relations in the context of building a new map of co-operation based on the principles of brotherhood, solidarity and complementarity.

In late May, Maduro visited Brazil after an eight-year hiatus to attend a meeting convened by Lula with South American heads of state, during which the two presidents held a rich bilateral programme that included private meetings and meetings with delegations from both countries.

As part of the restoration of relations, the governments of Venezuela and Brazil signed memoranda of understanding and strategic agreements aimed at the development of both countries.

One of the documents deals with agri-food issues, the other with the creation of a mechanism for control and subsequent implementation of the bilateral cooperation programme. With this move, the two countries reaffirmed their intention to deepen economic and trade exchanges, which reached $6 billion in 2013, as reported by Prensa Latina, a partner of TV BRICS.

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