Now there are concrete objectives
The
Argentina-Brazil relationship
Now
there are concrete objectives
By
Eduardo Andrés Aller Read Spanish Version
From
Buenos Aires
MERCOSUR
News Agency (APM)
Cristina
Fernández and Lula da Silva initiated a bilateral mechanism of
integration that is unprecedented for its rigorousness and planning.
Electric power was the valve that took the pressure off the struggle
for Bolivian gas.
Brazilian
President Lula da Silva’s state visit to Argentina on Friday [Feb.
22] served to deepen and consolidate the Strategic Alliance — with
capital letters, because it is a concept used and accepted by both
foreign ministries — between the two countries that head the Common
Market of the South (Mercosur) in such sensitive areas as foreign
policy, energy, infrastructure, technology, transport, industry and
defense. According to Fernández, the host president, the
results show that the relationship between the two nations has been
in full "maturity" for a long time now.
"We’re
going to overcome the differences, because the deeper the
integration, the less room for some minorities that continue to dream
with the failure of Mercosur," da Silva stated.
In
turn, Fernández underscored the achievement in overcoming old
concepts that hindered bilateral integration, the product of "fevered
minds that kept Argentina and Brazil from becoming the axis of
transformation of a region that needs the recuperation of its
society."
This
first meeting of the Mechanism of Integration and Bilateral
Cooperation (MICB), held in Government House, led to a plain and
prolix Joint Declaration, 17 detailed accords of cooperation and an
unusual precedent: each of the documents signed names the people
responsible and has a timetable with deadlines and objectives.
Organized
in November 2007, the MICB is an organization headed by both
presidents, which meets twice a year to review common issues and
analyze the nations’ compliance with the objectives previously agreed
upon. The first summit will be held Sept. 8 in Brasília.
"Ever
since a mechanism was established between Argentina and Brazil for
two presidential meetings per year, this is the first time that a
plan is created with timetables and general lines of action in
different fields," said the Argentine Under Secretary for Latin
America, Agustín Colombo Sierra.
The
official added that although the topics broached were various, the
question of energy supply is "very worrisome and totally
serious," so it was deal with "with extreme importance."
For
his part, Argentina’s Under Secretary for Latin American Integration
and Mercosur, Eduardo Sigal, said that "the bilateral meeting
focused on the energy issue" and added that "no doubt the
two presidents will reach an accord," in view of the
insufficient supply of natural gas from Bolivia to fill the growing
demand from Argentina and Brazil.
Even
though optimism reigned in the meeting hall, the Brazilian delegation
arrived intent on not giving up one bit of the gas it imports from
Bolivia, while the Argentine side was willing to threaten the
investments of Petrobras (Brazil’s state-run oil company) in
Argentina in order to get a little more of the fuel from Bolivia.
It
seems that this time the gas supply tilted to the side of Brazil.
Also, a commitment for "electrical interconnection" was
signed, with an aim to "implementing the exportation of
electricity from Brazil in winter of this year," even though the
treaty was subject "to the availability of electric power from
Brazil in that period. Also signed was a pact on "regassification"
that underscored the urgent need for new projects to increase the
supply of that fuel.
The
dispute over the Bolivian gas went to the mat in recent weeks, after
the administration of Evo Morales admitted that he does not have
enough production to supply the domestic market and the foreign
contracts. Daily extraction of gas ranges from 40 million cubic
meters (MMCs) and 42 MMCs. Bolivia is committed to send Brazil 31
MMCs per day; to cover its domestic consumption, Bolivia needs from 6
MMCs to 7 MMCs. This leaves a remainder of 2 or 3 MMCs for shipment
to Argentina, much less than the 7.7 MMCs agreed to in the contract
signed in mid-2006.
However,
in the wake of Saturday’s summit between the presidents of Argentina,
Brazil and Bolivia, the three presidents may meet again in late March
in La Paz. Previously, ministers from the three countries will meet
to agree on quotas for the distribution of gas.
"The
next meeting will probably be in La Paz, between Presidents Lula and
Fernández to review the advance proposals made by their
ministers," Morales told the press.
Earlier,
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorím, admitted that "if
Brazil tomorrow supplies gas or electricity and we run into a problem
of supply in Brazil, there will be another problem."
And
while every bilateral, or regional meeting is, at the level of
results, a way to consolidate good neighborly relations, it is also a
kind of negotiation that reveals whether collective interests are
more important than individual interests, or vice versa. In other
words, the meetings put to the test the feelings of integration that
are defended so vehemently in rhetoric.
And
maybe that is the greatest challenge for the leaders of the members
of Mercosur: to fund a balance between national and continental
interests. Above all, to convince their societies, by dint of
accomplishments, that those efforts are two faces of the same coin
and that the success of one is linked to the success of the other.
"It
is from the standpoint of punctual and concrete deeds that impact on
people’s daily lives, on their economic and social activities, that
the peoples and societies perceive most clearly the advantages of
integration and cooperation between nations," Fernández
said in the most recent summit of Mercosur presidents, held in
Uruguay two months ago.
On
the other hand, the Joint Declaration contributed nothing new. One of
its most outstanding paragraphs said that both presidents "renewed
their firm commitment to the strengthening and deepening of Mercosur,
which is the principal space for the regional integration of both
countries."
In
one of its most ambiguous paragraphs, the signatories stated that
"the growing shortage of energy in the world and its
relationship with climate changes stress the urgency of the bilateral
and regional efforts of integration of energy systems and the
development of alternative sources of energy." What is the
concept of "alternative sources"? Could it be biofuels?
Although
nuclear energy also falls into that classification, it had its own
chapter in the memoranda agreed to, without the need to resort to
synonyms or euphemisms. "The competent organizations in
Argentina and Brazil are ordered to establish a Binational Commission
responsible for the development of a model of a nuclear reactor
powerful enough to serve the needs of the electrical systems of both
countries and the region," said the accord on Nuclear
Cooperation, which also manifested "the intention to establish a
binational company for the enrichment of uranium."
Meanwhile,
in the matter of defense, a Joint Working Group on Defense was
formed, whose principal objective is to identify the activities
needed to promote reciprocity in the aeronautical industry and in the
research, development and production of military equipment.
Regarding
infrastructure and transportation, the meeting defined the importance
of building new bridges of the Uruguay River "to expand [border]
connections." A mixed group was formed to improve the connection
between the cities of Paso de los Libres (Argentina) and Uruguayana
(Brazil) — meaning repairs and improvements in the bridge — and the
Transportation Secretariat of Argentina and the Ministry of
Transportation of Brazil were given 90 days to draft a proposal to
finance and build a railroad corridor between Brazil’s Atlantic coast
and Chile’s Pacific coast.
In
terms of technology, the "strategic" nature of space
cooperation was reaffirmed, within a binational project to plan,
produce and launch an Argentine-Brazilian satellite.
Finally,
note was taken of the success of the work done by the Bank of the
Argentine Nation (BNA) and the Brazilian National Bank for
Development (BNDES). Both banks were urged to "expedite the
execution of new projects of interest for both governments."
