The presidents of Paraguay, Mario Abdo Benítez, and of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, visited the construction of a new bridge between both countries, in the so-called Bi-oceanic Route, which will facilitate the connection with Chilean ports through northern Argentina.
The leaders and their delegations walked from both sides of the border to the middle of the almost finished bridge, they hugged and celebrated the importance of this work for the integration between the two Mercosur countriesbloc that also includes Argentina and Uruguay.
“It is a historic day for the integration process“, declared the Paraguayan president, who stressed that the Bioceanic Route will imply a boost to the bloc’s trade with the Pacific countries.
Abdo Benítez also pointed out that the new work between the cities of Foz do Iguaçu, in Brazil, and Presidente Franco, in Paraguay, will facilitate traffic on the Amizade bridge, the the only one that so far unites the two countries and which opened in 1965.
According to the Paraguayan president, the “The bridge of friendship is saturated.and this new work will give “a boost to trade, but also to tourism”, another important source of funds for border areas.
Bolsonaro, who is campaigning and seeking re-election in October, agreed with Abdo Benítez and highlighted the agricultural potential of Brazil, Paraguay and their Mercosur partners.
“All this will boost our trade” in an “unstable world”, with “problems in Europe”, said the Brazilian president, without further details.
Bolsonaro valued that all of Mercosur is “suitable for agriculture and livestockand stressed that “the world lives without much, but does not live without food.”
According to Abdo Benítez, the works of the new bridge are in the completion stage and its inauguration is scheduled for November 2.
However, the access works to the new bridge are still pending, both on the Brazilian and Paraguayan sides.
The new link between Brazil and Paraguay is 760 meters long, 19 meters wide and more than 60 meters high and was built on the Paraná River.
Construction started in 2019, with an estimated cost of around 84 million dollarsfinanced by the Itaipu hydroelectric plant, whose ownership is shared by Brazil and Paraguay and which has been operating since 1973 in the same area where the new bridge is located.
Source: Observadora
