SAO PAULO -(Dow Jones)- Brazil's foreign ministry Friday said it "profoundly laments" a pie attack launched against high-ranking U.S. trade official Peter Allgeier.
The attack left half of Allgeier's face and suit jacket covered with marshmallow cream. The pie protest was carried out in Rio de Janeiro Thursday by a university student who said he belonged to an anti-globalization group called Bakers Without Borders.
Allgeier, the U.S. Trade Representative's co-chair for creation of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas, was meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Adhemar Bahadian when the attack occurred.
After the incident, the USTR official said the timeline for talks to form the trade area for the Western Hemisphere will be maintained.
Brazil's foreign ministry said Foreign Minister Celso Amorim called Allgeier " immediately after" the incident "to express solidarity" and said the attack " isn't typical of the Brazilian traditional of hospitality."
It added it's sure the "isolated incident won't affect the serene climate surrounding (FTAA) negotiations."
-By Terry Wade, Dow Jones Newswires; 5511-3145-1479; terry.wade@dowjones.com
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.