If you don’t believe it: a car crashed in Uruguay and fell in Brazil

An unusual episode occurred Tuesday on the Uruguayan-Brazilian border that divides the cities of Rivera and Santana do Livramento: A car lost control in Uruguay and overturned in Brazil.

The Argentine journalist Fernando Duclosknown in the networks as journalist, posted a photo of the vehicle stuck in the mountain it crashed into. “A case of border fans: today a car overturned in Uruguay and fell in Brazil. There were no injuries” Duclos reported.

The newspaper El Observador contacted Rivera’s headquarters and reported that the car, which was going on the side of the mountain road, fell “Technical Problems”.

Two cities that are one

Rivera, located in northern Uruguay, and Santana do Livramento, in southern Brazil, are two large cities that function as one. The first has around 90,000 inhabitants; the second, around 80,000.

Rivera and Santana are divided by a wide avenue which in turn serves as an imaginary border – known as the Peace Border -, allowing circulation through both towns simultaneously. Many residents live on one side, but work on the other.

During the pandemic, controlling the passage of Brazilians to Uruguay and vice versa has been a topic of discussion. The Uruguayan government has restricted entry into the country, but not Rivera.

The symbol of the union of both countries is the International Square, the only binational square in the world.

It was inaugurated after the agreement of the presidents of Brazil and Uruguay, Getúlio Vargas AND Alfredo Baldomirin February 1943, as the world suffered the consequences of the Second World War.

The presidents of Brazil and Uruguay met on several occasions in the area. One of the last great meetings on the border of peace took place between José “Pepe” Mujica AND Lula SilvaIn 2010.

Binationalism is also felt in the language: it is very common for families in one of the two cities to have Brazilian and Uruguayan members and for the inhabitants to speak fluent Spanish, Portuguese or a mix of both, known colloquially as “portuñol”.