New Itaipu treaty will seek to develop Brazil and Paraguay, says Lula – 03/16/2023 – Market

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) said this Thursday (16th) that the renewal of the Treaty of Itaipu, with Paraguay, will take into account Brazil’s responsibility in the development of the region and neighboring countries.

“We will make a new treaty that will be very beneficial for the maintenance of the development of Paraguay, of the development of Brazil, and for the maintenance of this cordial and harmonious relationship between the Brazilian people and the people of Paraguay”, said Lula.

Alongside the president of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, Lula spoke in Foz do Iguaçu (PR) at the inauguration ceremony of former federal deputy and economist Enio Verri (PT) as Brazilian general director of the Itaipu Binacional hydroelectric power plant, with a mandate until May 2027.

Verri takes over Itaipu at a time of renegotiation. This year, Brazil and Paraguay are beginning a renegotiation of Annex C of the bilateral treaty, which governs the company’s financial structure and the commercialization of the plant’s energy.

The renegotiation of Annex C takes place after the discharge of the debt contracted almost 50 years ago for the construction of the plant, on February 28th. The parties are expected to begin negotiations in the second half, after the presidential election in Paraguay.

In his speech, Lula defended the importance of Itaipu for regional development and mentioned the indigenous communities that are in the power plant’s area of ​​influence. He also defended the resumption of Unila, the University of Latin America. “I was very sad because I went by helicopter and it looks like an abandoned building. After I left the presidency, little was done. We are going to rebuild Unila”, he said.

He also said that the plant would never have been built today the way it was. “Today we are all clear that we would not have made the lake cover Sete Quedas as at that time. At that time, the climate understanding that exists today did not exist”, he spoke.

The ceremony was attended by parliamentarians, ministers, mayors of the region and the first lady, Rosângela Silva, Janja, who worked for more than 15 years at Itaipu. On an official mission in Asia, the governor of Paraná, Ratinho Junior (PSD), did not participate and was represented by the deputy, Darci Piana. The ceremony was held at the plant’s Cineteatro dos Barrageiros. The place was crowded with hydroelectric workers.

Re-elected federal deputy for Paraná in October, Enio Verri had to resign from office to assume command of Itaipu. The resignation was read in the plenary of the House this Tuesday (14). His replacement in the House will be former state deputy Elton Welter (PT).

At Itaipu, Verri replaces Admiral Anatalicio Risden Junior, who had been in charge since February 2022 and was also the binational’s executive financial director. During his speech this Thursday (16), Verri praised the admiral, who “managed the transition in an elegant manner”.

Born in Maringá, his main electoral base, Enio Verri, 61, is an economist and retired professor at the Department of Economics at UEM (State University of Maringá). He was municipal secretary in the city of Maringá and state secretary in the government of Paraná, under Roberto Requião. He has also served as state and federal deputy.

This was Lula’s first visit to Paraná since the beginning of his third term in Planalto. Lula had passed through the state in September, during his election campaign for the presidency. He held a rally in Curitiba, alongside former senator Roberto Requião (PT), then candidate for governor.

After being defeated at the polls by Ratinho Junior, Requião was asked by the national president of the PT, the federal deputy Gleisi Hoffmann (PR), to assume a chair of advisor at Itaipu, but he refused, and said he was offended by the offer.

“A golden sinecure is not the goal of a lifetime of dedication to the public interest. What would I do, meeting every 60 days with 12 people?”, he declared to the column Mônica Bergamo, in early January.

In addition to Verri, another former secretary from Requião is expected to join Itaipu’s board of directors. Lawyer Luiz Fernando Delazari will join the Legal Department. Also lawyer Carlos Carboni should stay with the Coordination Board.

Carboni is linked to family farming movements and was formerly Gleisi Hoffmann’s chief of staff when she was Minister of the Civil House. Other names are yet to be announced for the hydroelectric directorates.