BRASILIA, Nov 25 (Reuters) - Brazil's government denied a
newspaper report that it had suspended a loan for Ecuador to
buy 24 Embraer aircraft, a spokesman for the presidency said on
Tuesday.
Last week Ecuador filed an international lawsuit seeking to
suspend payments on the loan from Brazil's national development
bank, or BNDES, alleging the terms were unlawful. The row over
the loan has strained ties between the South American
countries, with Brazil recalling its ambassador to discuss the
government's response.
Citing an unnamed government source, O Estado de Sao Paulo
daily reported on Tuesday that the government suspended a $261
million loan through the BNDES to finance a planned purchase by
Ecuador of 24 Supertucano turboprop trainers made by Brazil's
Embraer.
"The story is wrong. The government has not suspended any
loans," a spokesman for the presidential palace told Reuters.
Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Monday that Brazil
would closely evaluate any new financing to Ecuador but did not
want to harm the people of the Andean nation.
Embraer shares had fallen nearly 1 percent before turning
around by late morning to gain 2.5 percent to 8.2 reais. The
benchmark Bovespa index .BVSP> was up 2 percent.
The Supertucano aircraft was used by the Colombian military
earlier this year to attack a rebel camp inside Ecuador,
triggering a diplomatic spat that pushed the Andean region to
the brink of an armed conflict.
Brazil has played a key role in financing regional
infrastructure projects and its President Luiz Inacio Lula da
Silva had enjoyed good relations with his also leftist
Ecuadorean counterpart Rafael Correa.
(Reporting by Raymond Colitt, editing by Dave Zimmerman)
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