BRAZILIAN PRESIDENT PLEDGES FURTHER AID FOR EAST TIMOR

Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso, who today visited East Timor for the first time, announced that Brazil prioritizes education, illiteracy eradication, training and capacity building in its cooperation with East Timor. “Our goal is to give an effective contribution to education and capacity building, so that the East Timorese can take their destiny into their own hands as soon as possible,” the President said in a special session of the National Council presided by CNRT/NC President Xanana Gusmão. President Cardoso inaugurated the Center for Professional Training and Business Development in Dili, a project funded by the Brazilian Government, and announced that Brazil will send a military hospital unit to East Timor. Other areas of cooperation will be exploitation of natural resources and distance education. During his one-day visit, President Cardoso met SRSG Sergio Vieira de Mello, Xanana Gusmão and other CNRT officials, East Timor Transitional Cabinet Members and the bishop Dom Carlos Ximenes Belo. He also visited the Santa Cruz Cemetery to pay his tribute to the East Timorese who died in the struggle for independence. President Cardoso was accompanied by the Ministry of External Relations, the Army Commander, Federal Deputies and the Head of the Brazilian Mission to the United Nations.