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Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez is safe. After a week of negotiations, the ruling party, Colorado, has agreed to block an opposition petition for the purpose of a political trial in Congress, the result of a controversial pact on the government. energy signed in May with Brazil. The dissident branch of the colorados, led by former president Horacio Cartes, announced that it would no longer vote for a process of revocation of the presidential term, despite the broadcast of messages to the press that would confirm that Benítez was aware of the agreement with the government of Jair Bolsonaro was prejudicial to Paraguay.
"There is no Colorado voting against a Colorado leader," asked on Monday Senator Juan Carlos Galaverna, leader of a historic party. Galaverna, an expert in internal negotiations, then demanded the "red reconciliation" of Map men, confronted with the Benítez sector since the 2017 internal elections to elect a presidential candidate. The president's shield ended the first crisis of a government that will turn one year next week.
Benítez 's problems began in late July, when he learned that he had secretly signed a new electricity surplus distribution program generated by the Binational Dam. Itaipu, the second largest on the planet. The dictatorships of the two countries built Itaipu in the early 1970s and since then Paraguay has been trying to amend a shared-use agreement that it considers unfair. Electricity produced by the dam is 90% in Brazil and Paraguay charges 40%, giving its partner a fixed amount below the market price. The distribution model was based on the principle that Brazil was investing for the dam and Paraguay for the flooded territory. The conditions must be renegotiated in 2023, hence the political sensitivity of the agreement signed between Benítez and Bolsonaro.
The agreement establishes a higher price for the purchase of surplus power generation that Paraguay has and that can be sold to third countries. The opposition calculated the additional annual cost of about $ 250 million and accused Benítez of "vendepatria". The secret with which the agreement was negotiated was considered as evidence that something was wrong in the letter of agreement and that is why the Liberal Party, a historical rival of the colorados, asked the political process. Abdo then stated that he did not know the details of the pact because he had left the case in the hands of the Foreign Ministry. The scandal cost Foreign Minister Luis Castiglioni, the leader of Paraguay of Itaipú and the ambbadador to Brazil.
The ABC Color newspaper, however, published on the cover of Monday alleged private discussions that would show the president was aware of what was trading in Brasilia about Itaipu. In WhatsApp texts, Benítez asks the head of the National Electricity Administration (ANDE), Pedro Ferreira, to keep a reserve on the details of the agreement and admits that " it's impossible to win at all in a negotiation. " "Pedro, hurry up, the solution ANDE Electrobras. Everything is stopped. Itaipu is a tool, "he said, knowing that Ferreira had warned that Brazil's proposals entailed additional costs for Paraguay. "People watch and criticize. If there are differences, they can not be public, "said the president a few days later, alert to any leaks from the press.
It is Ferreira's opposition to the agreement that finally blew up the political bomb. The official resigned from his post, saying that he wanted to force him to sign something that did not suit Paraguay. His gesture illuminates the secret pact with Brazil and arouses a wave of patriotic solidarity that opposes the executive. The crisis, finally, did not reach the majors. The Colorado party closed ranks around its leader and saved him from political judgment.
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