BRASILIA - US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice arrived Tuesday in Brazil, the first leg of a four-nation Latin America tour to address regional issues, Ecuador, Venezuela and the troubled Organization of American States.
Rice was to meet with Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
Before landing in Brasilia, Rice expressed support for Brazil's growing influence but remained evasive on its quest for a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
"Brazil is a regional power and, in fact, Brazil is a growing global presence, and we think thats a good thing," Rice said.
Brazil has joined forces with three other candidates -- Germany, India and Japan -- to seek a permanent seat on the UN Security Council.
On Venezuela, Rice voiced concern over the administration of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, who has been irking Washington since he rose to power in 1999, accusing it of trying to overthrow his government and striking up energy relations with China.
Over the weekend, Chavez ended a 35-year joint military training program with the United States apparently giving no reason.
"Weve had concerns about the behavior of the Venezuelan regime in terms of its own domestic development and adherence to the (Organization of American States) Democratic Charter and in terms of relations with its neighbors," Rice said.
The New York Times on Tuesday said the United States was considering a long-term strategy that could deal more harshly with Chavez, after concluding that a reasonable relationship was practically impossible.
Possible measures include increasing US support to anti-Chavez groups in Venezuela and urging Venezuela's neighbors to distance themselves from Chavez, who next year could be re-elected to another six-year term.
On Monday, Lula sent cabinet chief Jose Dirceu to Caracas to meet with Chavez before Rice's arrival.
Ecuador's political crisis will also likely figure highly in Rice's talks with Latin American officials, as the situation there has highlighted the social and political weaknesses in the region.
She will also discuss the failure to find a new OAS leader after the pan-American body split between Chilean Interior Minister Jose Miguel Insulza and Mexican Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez in a vote April 11. Washington voted for Derbez.
"We do need to look for a solution now. We need to look for a way that we can get a secretary general who will have the full support of the members of the OAS, where there will not be a sense of division and in which the OAS can emerge in unity," Rice said.
A likely agenda item for Rice and Brazilian officials is stalled talks on a Free Trade Area of the Americas. Lula wants the United States to lower barriers to Brazil's agricultural goods, while US negotiators want Brazil to loosen its rules on government acquisitions and investment in Brazil.
Rice's visit to Latin America, the second after a brief visit to Mexico in March, follows a European tour in February, one in Asia in March and a visit to Russia last week.
The trip also aims to revive relations with a part of the world eclipsed in recent years by the war on terrorism and the conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
After two days in Brazil, Rice is to travel Wednesday to Colombia, then on to Chile, ending her tour in El Salvador and returning to the US capital Saturday.
04/26/2005 19:20 GMT