President-elect of Paraguay, Fernando Lugo, said that he will take the opportunity of a meeting in Brazil to raise the question of the Itaipu binational hydroelectric plant.
He said he will attend the summit of regional presidents scheduled for May 16 in Lima as a guest, and he will insist on the need for Paraguay to get a fairer price for the sale of its surplus power.
"One thing is to renegotiate the Itaipu treaty signed with Brazil and another is to demand a fair price," he told journalists on Tuesday.Paraguay gets nearly $300 million a year for this surplus power, but the former bishop considers the fair price must reach about $2 billion.
He said that the Itaipu issue is definitely at the center of public opinion and we will not give up. I have spoken to Lula, to his Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and other Brazilian authorities.
Lugo said the new Paraguayan government priorities include regaining decision-making capacity regarding the energy produced in Itaipu and in Yacyreta, the hydroelectric complex shared with Argentina.Paraguay must get a fairer price for the sale of its surplus power without denying the need to renegotiate the treaty.
The Itaipu treaty establishes an egalitarian energy distribution, requiring Paraguay to sell all surplus (nearly 95 percent), on exclusive rights, to its partner and neighboring country Brazil.Lugo is expected to attend the 5th Summit of Latin America, the Caribbean and the European Union at the invitation of outgoing President Nicanor Duarte.
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