BUENOS AIRES (voa) – Leaders from Mercosur, a South American trading block, are meeting Monday in Buenos Aires for a summit expected to focus on Argentina’s severe economic crisis.
Participants are also set to discuss ways to boost cooperation within the block, which is composed of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Chile and Bolivia are associate members.
Late Sunday, Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso expressed his country’s solidarity with Argentina before meeting privately with the Argentine president, Eduardo Duhalde.
Brazilian officials say President Cardoso could offer concessions on trade tariffs to help revive Argentina’s battered economy after four years of deep recession. Mr. Cardoso has expressed confidence that Argentina has the resources to recover from its crisis.
Last week, Argentine officials traveled to Washington for meetings with the International Monetary Fund. The negotiations were aimed at restarting talks that broke down in December, when the IMF refused to clear a loan payment to Argentina.
Argentina is seeking up to $23-billion in loan aid from the IMF, in an effort to revive its troubled economy. The South American nation suffers from double-digit unemployment and recently defaulted on a $141-billion public debt.
