Brazil says Paraguay will be #1 priority for vaccine cooperation

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Foreign Minister Ernesto Araújo has prioritized political ally Paraguay among the countries that should cooperate internationally in vaccine efforts.

The Foreign Minister said that Paraguay will be Brazil’s top priority. The statement was made on Wednesday, March 17th, at the Itamaraty Palace, after the first in-person meeting between Araújo and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo.

After the meeting, the Ministers met with President Jair Bolsonaro at the Planalto Palace.

In his speech at the Foreign Ministry, the Paraguayan Foreign Minister expressed his gratitude for Brazil’s solidarity in the pandemic and said that the situation in Paraguay is well known, as it has received few vaccines so far. Last year Brazil donated 50,000 RT-PCR tests for Covid-19 detection.

Read: Brazilian government concerned about crisis in Paraguay; fears removal of its president

The Minister said that Brazil is an economic, scientific and technological power, and that countries intend to work together to ensure everyone vaccine access. “One way to reach everyone is to have access to information. In this respect, we will cooperate within our possibilities in making this possible,” he said.

Paraguay, which adopted restrictive measures at the start of the pandemic and was at one point one of the countries with the lowest incidence of Covid-19 in South America, is experiencing its worst moment in the health crisis. The country has registered 181,414 cases and 3,517 deaths from the disease, according to the Paraguayan Health Ministry. ICU beds have reached 97% occupancy.

Read: Paraguay is the new Brazil: Coronavirus infections soar amid collapsing health system

In addition, the government has been struggling to secure vaccines against the novel coronavirus. Last Sunday, March 14th, the Paraguayan government signed a presidential decree ordering new restrictions to prevent the total collapse of the health system.

Work activities have been reduced to the minimum, both for the public and private sectors. As of Thursday, March 18th, traffic will be banned between 8 PM and 5 AM in 24 cities, including the capital, Asunción.

Classes will be suspended in the most critical regions. The rise in the number of cases and deaths has led to a political crisis in the country. At the start of the month, then Health Minister Julio Mazzoleni resigned after a string of complaints from relatives of ICU Covid-19 patients who claimed the state was failing to provide medicines.

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Paraguayan president Mario Abdo Benítez, is the target of protests for poor pandemic management. Opposition parties have organized an impeachment motion.

Itaipu

This is not the Paraguayan president’s first impeachment threat. In 2019, Mario Abdo Benítez was accused of treason by the opposition for allegedly omitting information related to a power purchase agreement from the Itaipu Hydroelectric Plant, which would disfavor Paraguay.

After pressure, the measure was revoked. In 2023, the plant’s debt will be fully paid off and Annex C of the Itaipu Treaty, concerning the financial bases and provision of electricity services, will undergo a revision.

Read: Paraguayan Foreign Minister calls on Brazil for help in fighting pandemic

The document establishes that each country will be entitled to half of the power generated by the plant, but must sell to the other partner the part that is unused. The analysis of the annex was the subject of conversations between Ernesto Araújo and Euclides Acevedo. The Brazilian Foreign Minister said that the dialogue should begin “as soon as possible,” but did not specify a date.

“We are ready to begin discussions (…) as soon as the circumstances of the pandemic will minimally allow it,” he said.

For the Paraguayan Minister, the edition of the text cannot be only a legal and administrative discussion, but a natural resource that respects the environment, the culture and, above all, the countries’ equal rights.

“After the pandemic, we are going to start our talks for the revision, the renegotiation and the use of Itaipu for the development of other works in the region, hydroelectric works, addressing the waterway, the bioceanic corridor, so that integration is not a theoretical formulation, but a practical reality, economically predictable, politically outstanding and diplomatically fascinating,” he said.

Infrastructure

The bioceanic corridor, mentioned by the Foreign Minister, is a project that intends to connect the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans by land, passing through Brazil, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile.

According to the Brazilian Minister, the construction and paving of the Paraguayan section has been progressing. The progress of the work is linked to the construction of a bridge over the Paraguay River, which is currently in the bidding process.

Read: “Constitutional reform”, Paraguay foreign minister’s formula to lead his country out of the crisis

Source: CNN Brasil