After ten years of tense back and forth, the Government accepted the request of the Eastern Government to be able to increase the depth of the access channel to the port of Montevideo from 13 to 14 metres. The decision would soon be reflected in a bilateral agreement.
As I anticipated Clarionthe decision considered by Uruguayans to be an extremely positive gesture by Foreign Minister Diana Mondino gained momentum last week first meeting of the minister with his counterpart Omar Paganini. It took place in parallel with a meeting of Mercosur foreign ministers in Paraguay.
Now, Uruguayan sources report it Clarion which received the green light from Argentina, in a technical meeting that took place this Wednesday via zoom. No news of that meeting has yet been given by the Argentine parties.
This was revealed by Uruguayan officials, including diplomats from the two countries and officials of the Administrative Commission of the Río de la Plata (CARP), which reports to the Undersecretariat of American Affairs chaired by Ambassador Mariano Vergara.
In Montevideo they asked Argentina for this gesture to modernize its port, which is now becoming one more competitive than Buenos Aires. The decision “breaks with the politics of I do not allow Uruguay to deepen its port and its access channel because then it hurts me.”
A statement from the two countries is expected on Wednesday afternoon.
This is recalled by an extensive article that appeared today in the newspaper El Observador the conflict of this dredging to 14 meters over the years.
During the government of Cristina Kirchner, in 2013, due to the conflict between the Nestor Kirchner and Tabaré Vázquez paper mills, there continued to be a bad bilateral climate and the former president rejected Uruguay’s request.
In 2018, under the government of Mauricio Macri, dredging from 12 to 13 meters was authorized, but an error by the Uruguayans caused the request to be adjusted to 14 meters.
Already under the government of Alberto Fernández and with the CARP strongly under discussion, the former Argentine deputy Diego Tettamanti rejected the Uruguayan proposal with 28 objections. Tettamanti He is no longer in office and the CARP would be subjected to a transparency process together with all the commissions that are in the Farnesina’s orbit.
Source: Clarin
