Brasilia - Shimon Peres arrived in Brasilia Tuesday for the first official visit to Brazil by an Israeli president in 43 years. He was to address both chambers of the Brazilian Congress later in the day and meet with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva Wednesday to discuss cooperation in tourism, technology and cinema production.
Trade between Brazil and Israel was valued at 1.6 billion dollars last year, more than three times the 2002 figure.
Beyond trade and cooperation, however, Peres is likely to tackle the upcoming visit to Brazil of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad - an outspoken critic of Israel who has repeatedly denied the Holocaust.
Ahmadinejad is expected in Brazil on November 23 on an official visit.
Peres' office said before the start of the trip that "the Iranian infiltration of the continent" will be a central issue of the Israeli president's stay in Latin America, which is also scheduled to take him to Argentina Sunday.
Brazil has argued that there is little to be gained from "isolating" and "cornering" Iran. Lula's advisers, however, stress that Brazil is a "reliable mediator" on talks about Iran's nuclear programme and the situation in the Middle East.
Peres is leading a delegation that includes Israeli Tourism Minister Stats Misezhnikov, 40 Israeli business leaders and senior members of the Israeli defence industry.
He will travel to Sao Paulo - Brazil's main financial centre - on Thursday for meetings with business leaders and the Jewish community. In Rio de Janeiro on Friday he will be involved in discussions on preparations for the 2014 football World Cup and the 2016 Olympics.
