The main goal of the United States is to implement the Free Trade Area of the Americas agreement in 2005, stated John Maisto, U.S. Ambassador to the Organization of American States.

The U.S. diplomatic representative arrived today in Montevideo with the purpose of discussing the Special Summit of the Americas with Uruguayan authorities. The summit is scheduled for January in Mexico.

Maisto, who is the U.S. coordinator for this event, emphasized that the main reason for his visit is to explain his country’s position regarding this summit, which, he added, is a bridge for the summit to be held in Argentina in 2005.

He said that since the last summit, 14 countries have a new president or prime minister, and therefore dialogue at the highest level will be extremely important to reach agreements and achieve the proposed goals.

In addition, Maisto explained that the summit in Mexico has three objectives: equitable economic development by trying to reduce poverty, social development by investing in people, and democratic governance.