The foreign ministers of Brazil and Paraguay agreed to resume, in the first half of December, negotiations on the review of Annex C of the Itaipu Treaty, based on the Bilateral Understanding of April 2024. The announcement was made this Monday (17) in a joint note.
According to the statement, Brazilian Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano met throughout the morning in order to analyze the bilateral agenda.
During the meeting, Vieira handed Ramírez Lezcano a confidential report and presented clarifications requested by the neighboring government regarding actions by the Brazilian Intelligence Agency (Abin) in Paraguayan territory in the period from June 2022 to March 2023.
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“He recalled that President Lula’s government rendered the operation null and void as soon as it became aware of it. While regretting the impact of this episode on the bilateral relationship, he assured that the Brazilian government is taking all measures to enable the identification of those involved and their judicial accountability”, highlighted the note.
“Minister Ramírez Lezcano received the confidential report and the explanations offered by his counterpart and, after an exchange of views, expressed that the Paraguayan government considered the matter concluded”, concluded the statement.
Other themes
Also according to the joint note, the foreign ministers discussed possible dates for visits by the presidents of Paraguay and Brazil with the aim of advancing discussions with an emphasis on the following axes:
- Infrastructure: inauguration of the Integration Bridge, road connections, Bioceanic Corridor, Paraguay-Paraná Waterway and airports;
- Energy: electrical interconnection, interinstitutional cooperation, energy planning, biomass and ethanol.
- Public security: combating drug trafficking, arms trafficking, human trafficking and transnational organized crime and prison cooperation.
- Defense: strengthening cooperation on military issues, training, joint actions and defense equipment.
- Cooperation in matters of school feeding; family farming; statistics and public economic planning institutes.
- Cooperation in educational matters: greater access for Paraguayan students to Brazilian universities and exchange of teachers; exchange of students and teachers between the diplomatic academies in the respective chanceries and in specific posts abroad.
