Portal Exame, one of the most traditional Brazilian magazines, brings an interview with Brazil's Foreign Relations Minister, Celso Amorim. In it, the diplomat acknowledges that, although Brazil reached a political victory at the WTO meeting, no concrete results were reached during it.

The interview, written by journalists André Lahóz and Marcos Coronato, claims that when the Minister landed at the Mexican resort of Cancun to attend the World Trade Organization meeting, held from September 10 to 14, he was merely Brazil's main diplomat. "A little later," says the article, "he had reached the post of the main spokesperson and negotiator for the newly-created G22, the group of developing countries led by Brazil that stirred the gathering up by confronting trade giants such as the United States, the European Union and Japan head on."

In the exclusive interview to EXAME, the Minister claims that Brazil cannot be blamed for the Cancun failure, he condemns the protectionism imposed by the rich countries, and reaffirms that which he considers a new Itamaraty posture, adopted since President Lula took office.

To Amorim:

Cancun and Seattle

"It was best we didn't allow an agreement that would bring nearly millimetric gains. I am convinced that we will soon be back at the negotiating table, particularly because of the way the meeting ended. After the fiasco of the WTO meeting in Seattle, in 1999, nobody knew where to pick-up from. On that occasion, there was not even a closing plenary session. This time, the meeting ended on a much more organized tone."

The WTO's gain

"The G22 presented organized proposals. Naturally, if we had not taken on this position, the agricultural negotiation would have been 'solved': one group that represents more than half of humanity would simply subscribe the decisions made by the United States and the European Union. However, that certainly would not be a good result for us. In fact, it would be bad for the WTO too, since it would only increase resentment among so many countries."

FTAA

"In order for the FTAA to advance, we must capture the main lesson of Cancun: the airplane didn't take off because it was too heavy. If we can leave aside a little of the FTAA's weight - such as investment rules, intellectual property, services - and concentrate on market-access issues, we will have a reasonable chance to reach an agreement."

Read the interview in its entirety in Portuguese.