LatinNews Daily - 26 February 2024

*Paraguay’s Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano has stated that conditions are “very favourable” for reaching an agreement with Brazil on the tariff for electricity generated by the binational Itaipú hydroelectric complex. Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña has been working to obtain better terms for Paraguay under the Itaipú Treaty, particularly with relation to the sale of its surplus energy produced at Itaipú which is sold to Brazil at low prices. Ramírez was speaking after a meeting with his Brazilian counterpart Mauro Vieira on 22 February to discuss Itaipú, which Ramírez termed as “the most important issue of the bilateral agenda”. Ramírez said that they discussed the operating plan, the budget, and the issues related to the tariff. On the subject of the tariff, he stated that an agreement would be reached quickly, “because it is the will of both heads of state and it is also a necessity, with the motivation that the binational entity can operate in the most efficient way possible”. Ramírez said that negotiations on the tariff would continue to advance at a technical level. “We estimate that it is possible to reach a technical proposal of tariffs in the next meeting,” said Ramírez, indicating he would next meet with Vieira in the first week of March. However, he added that the negotiations were “complex”.