Asunción, Agencia IP.- Former Ministers of Foreign Affairs and ambassadors such as business sectors expressed their support for the Government and the Chancellery’s actions to solve the conflict of the transit in the waterway Paraguay – Paraná.

On Wednesday, Chancellor Rubén Ramírez received representatives from the industrial and business sectors from the Business Advisory Council for Foreign Relations.

The private sector members supported the Chancellery so that, through diplomacy, an agreement could be reached as soon as possible with Argentina on the intended toll on the waterway and guarantee free navigability.

For its part, the Council of Retired Ambassadors of Paraguay (Cepsir), which brings together former Paraguayan foreign ministers and diplomats, issued a statement highlighting its support for the Government’s position of demanding the unilateral collection of fees, in contravention of the Waterway Treaty, as well as the retention of Paraguayan barges for not paying the toll, in violation of the provisions of the Mercosur Treaty.

Both sectors stated that the measure compromises the Paraguayan foreign trade, mainly depending on the waterway for exporting its primary commodities and importing consumer goods and others.

Situation of the waterway

On Monday, there was a meeting with Chancellor Ramírez and the Minister of Public Works and Communications, Claudia Centurión, with the Secretary of Energy, Flavia Royón, and the President of the Administration of Ports José Beni, from Argentina.

The authorities agreed to keep the information confidential until an agreement about the toll in the waterway is reached. The unilateral decision of Argentina is rejected by Paraguay and the other countries that share the channel: Bolivia, Brazil and Uruguay.

Another point of negotiation with Argentina is about the missed payments of US$ 150 million to Paraguay for the Itaipú hydroelectric energy transfer. As a pressure action, Paraguay decided to use all the energy corresponding to it, forcing Argentina to seek provision at higher prices.

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