EL UNIVERSAL

Argentine President Néstor Kirchner Tuesday arrived in the air base Luis Apolinar Méndez in Puerto Ordaz, southern Bolívar state, where he was welcomed by Venezuelan Executive Vice-President Jorge Rodríguez and several ministers.
Kirchner, who arrived in the Argentine presidential airplane Tango 01, is meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Hugo Chávez to initial a number of economic and financial agreements, AP reported.

Kirchner is accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Jorge Taiana and Minister of Economy Felisa Miceli, but senator Cristina Fernández, Kirchner's wife, is not traveling to Venezuela as previously announced.
 
Argentinean and Venezuelan rulers are to inaugurate one of the oil wells Venezuelan and Argentinean oil firms Pdvsa and Enarsa, respectively, are to operate, together with Uruguayan Ancap, officials sources said as quoted by Efe.

They are also to prepare a joint issuance of debt bonds through a mechanism similar to that they used in 2006 to launch the "Bond of the South" for USD 1 billion.

Kirchner is to witness initialization of an agreement under which Venezuela is injecting funds to Argentinean dairy firm Sancor in exchange for a Venezuelan active role in the company, which has a standing debt of USD 167 million.

Further, Kirchner and Chávez are initialing a deal for Venezuela to import from Argentina 5,000 tons of beef and 5,000 tons of chicken, together with some autobuses that will be bought from Argentina by the end of the year.

The two governments have cemented pact to promote construction of popular dwellings in Venezuela and for export of Argentinean agriculture machinery to Venezuela.

Kirchner is staying in Puerto Ordaz for a little more than 24 hours, as he is returning for Buenos Aires on Wednesday.

Translated by Maryflor Suárez
msuarez@eluniversal.com