Agência Brasil
Brasilia – United States deputy Secretary of State for Policy, Marc Grossman, met with Brazillian diplomats at the Ministry of Foreign Relations yesterday and told them that it will be difficult to give Brazilians a visa exemption, that is, put Brazil on the list of countries that do not require visas, because of a series of obstacles and regulations.
Minister of Foreign Relations, Celso Amorim, told Grossman that a practical solution could be more person to person meetings in Brazil before Brazilians travel to the United States.
Grossman said the US did not criticize the Brazilian position, but pointed out that Brazil and the US have different points of view in some areas,for example, regarding border security and screening. Brazil screens only Americans and the US screens all persons who come from countries that require visas, he said.
The visit by Grossman is part of ongoing consultations between Brazil and the US which take place twice annually. The American diplomat said that president Bush considers it important to expand Brazil-US bilateral relations. As for the Free Trade Area of the Americas, Grossman said it was very important for both countries but did not go into details, saying that was for the people dealing directly with the negotiations to do.
