President of Paraguay denies that he wants to sell energy from Itaipu to other countries

The president-elect of Paraguay, Santiago Peña, denied that the revision of the Itaipu Treaty, one of his main flags during the recent presidential election campaign, is to sell the surplus energy produced to other countries for a value greater than that purchased by Brazil.

Peña was in Brasília on Friday (28) where he met with President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (PT) to discuss matters of interest to both countries, including the agreement signed 50 years ago for the construction of the Itaipu Binacional hydroelectric power plant. .

The treaty signed in 1973 establishes that Paraguay must sell the surplus produced by the plant obligatorily to Brazil at cost price. The country uses only 15% of the load generated at Itaipu, and the expectation is that it wants to sell the rest for a higher price.

“Paraguay does not need to sell energy to other countries, we have to think about an integration project, where Paraguay and Brazil have to be together. It’s a win-win here for both countries and I’m convinced we can do it,” he said in an interview with Band which will be shown this Sunday (20) at night.

The Paraguayan representative claims that the revision of the Itaipu Treaty is, in fact, a “new vision” of what was agreed upon 50 years ago, and that the path now is one of “integration” between the two countries. The debt for the construction of the plant was settled in February this year.

“We’re going to make it so that within these 50 years people can look back at what we’ve done and say ‘impressive’. The goal is no longer just power generation. The objective is the development of Brazil and Paraguay”, he said about what he spoke with Lula.

He declared that while the negotiations do not start, Brazil and Paraguay continue to work together on the plant. The treaty establishes that negotiations will start on August 13.

“If it doesn’t happen, the operation of the hydroelectric plant will continue. It is not that the situation will stop Itaipu’s operation, which is continuing”, he concluded.

This was Peña’s second visit to Brazil since he was elected. In May, shortly after the election, the Paraguayan president had his first meeting with Lula in which he advanced his intention to revise the agreement reached to build the plant.