SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Otto Reich is heading to Brazil to make preparations for President-Elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva's first meeting with President George Bush in December, said Folha de S. Paulo Tuesday.
Reich will arrive in Brasilia Wednesday and stay for two days, meeting Lula and members of his Workers' Party Thursday. Aside from preparations, the meeting is aimed at improving U.S. relations with Brazil.
This is key as Brazil and the U.S. currently co-chair talks over the setting up of a Free Trade Area of the Americas. But negotiations are moving at a snail's pace and the U.S. is keen on creating a hemisphere-wide trade zone of 34 countries by 2005.
Brazil has complained about U.S. trade barriers to its farm produce, and Lula has called Washington's FTAA proposal tantamount to "annexing" the Brazilian market.
Lula won October's presidential election in a landslide victory, and will replace President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who can't be elected for a third term.
Reich's visit also comes as officials from the two countries will meet in Brasilia Wednesday for a bilateral trade meeting.
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