EL UNIVERSAL

Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva will encourage this week his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez to speed up the talks for Venezuela's membership of the trade bloc known as the Common Market of the South (Mercosur), said the Brazilian President's spokesman Marcelo Baumbach.

Lula will capitalize also on his meeting, which is expected to last about five hours, to discuss the possibility of acting as middleman for an agreement to release the hostages held by the Colombian Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC).

"This matter will surely be discussed. Brazil, as usual, will reassert its willingness to cooperate in order to solve FARC-related troubles, but has always clarified that it is a Colombian internal affair and any solution is up to an agreement with Colombia," said Baumbach.

The incorporation of Venezuela as full member of Mercosur -composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay- depends on its approval by the Brazilian and Paraguayan congresses. However, Baumbach, disregarding a potential green light by both legislatures, noted that the talks had reached a technical level and Venezuela should be quick to fulfill additional requirements.

Common passport
The Common Market of the South will remove in the short term the use of passports for the citizens of member nations, Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela (in process of adhesion) and affiliate countries Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia.

The agreement will be sealed in a summit to be held from June 30 to July 1 in Tucumán, Argentina.

The Mercosur director at the Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Bruno Bath said that the action, to be implemented in the near future, is aimed at the citizens' smooth flow.

Translated by Conchita Delgado