MONTEVIDEO, April 2 (Xinhuanet) -- Some 60 countries support the Uruguayan candidate Carlos Perez del Castillo to be the next general director of the World Trade Organization (WTO), local press quoted Uruguayan Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano as saying on Saturday.

    "Uruguay keeps on supporting Perez del Castillo. This has been said before, by the president (Tabare Vazquez) to his Brazilian counterpart, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, and in a very clear form we keep that position," Gargano told a press conference Friday evening upon his return to Montevideo from Brazil, where he accompanied the president on a visit.

    "This week we've sent letters to nearly 60 countries supportingthe candidacy, and the president placed a special emphasis in this sense," said Gargano.

    Currently, there are four candidates for the election to be held before May 31, 2005, and they also include Luiz Felipe de Seixas from Brazil, Mauritian Foreign Minister Jaya Cuttaree, and former EU Commissioner of Trade Pascal Lamy from France. Enditem