Bolsonaro and Abdo Benítez celebrate integration between Brazil and Paraguay on new binational bridge

On Wednesday, the presidents of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, and Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, toured work on a new binational bridge that will integrate the so-called Bi-oceanic Route that runs through northern Argentina to Chilean ports.

The heads of state and their delegations walked from one side of the border to the middle of the nearly completed bridge, hugging, posing for photographers, and celebrating the importance of this construction for integration between the two countries and for Mercosur, which also includes Argentina and Uruguay.

“This is a historic day for the integration process,” said the Paraguayan leader, who stressed that the Bi-Oceanic Route will boost the bloc’s trade with Pacific countries.

Bilaterally, he stressed that the new project between the cities of Foz de Iguaçu (Brazil) and Presidente Franco (Paraguay) would “relieve” traffic on the Friendship Bridge, inaugurated in 1965 and the only bridge between the two countries to date.

“The Friendship Bridge is saturated,” and this new work will boost “trade, but also tourism,” another critical source of revenue for Paraguay’s border areas, he said.

Bolsonaro, who is campaigning for the October elections in which he is seeking a renewal of his mandate, agreed with Abdo Benítez and emphasized the agricultural potential of Brazil, Paraguay, and its Mercosur partners.

“All this will boost our trade” in an “unstable world” with, “problems in Europe,” the Brazilian head of government said without providing further details.

He said that “all of Mercosur” is “favorable for agriculture and livestock,” pointing out that “the world lives without much, but it does not live without food.”

According to Abdo Benítez, work on the new bridge is in the “final stages,” and the inauguration is scheduled for November 2.

However, work is still pending on both the Brazilian and Paraguayan sides to allow access to the new bridge.

Abdo Benítez explained that these “complementary works” are “in full swing” in his country, with an estimated investment of about US$220 million. At the same time, Bolsonaro only hinted that “everything is also underway” on the Brazilian side.

The new link between Brazil and Paraguay is 760 meters long, 19 meters wide, and more than 60 meters high and was built over the Paraná River.

Construction of the bridge began in 2019 at an estimated cost of US$84 million. It is financed by the Itaipu Hydroelectric Power Plant, jointly owned by Brazil and Paraguay, which has operated since 1973 in the area where the new bridge is located.