June 28, 2006
Dutch Foreign Minister to visit Venezuela

(El Universal) - "Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot will visit Venezuela, Brazil and the Netherlands Antilles during the first week of July, official sources reported.

No items in the agenda to be discussed with his counterparts of these countries have been defined yet. However, the order of visits is clear. Bot will go first to Brazil, then to Curacao and finally to Venezuela.

The senior official will meet in Brazil with Foreign Minister Celso Amorín, to 'deal bilateral matters, trade relations, cooperation among different Latin American nations and also topics related to energy,' government spokesman Herman van Gelderen told Efe.

In Curacao and Aruba, Bot will meet with the rulers of both states.

The visit, from July 5th to July 12th, will end in Venezuela, viewed as neighboring country due to its proximity to the Netherlands Antilles.

'With this visit, the Netherlands want in the first place to consolidate good relations with Venezuela,' Van Gelderen said".