Paraguay’s Threat Adds Tension to Relations with Brazil and Argentina
The Paraguayan government’s threat to make eventual changes in its agreements with Brazil and Argentina to use the energy produced by the hydroelectric plants of Itaipu and Yacireta added tension to relations with those countries.
Without hiding his irritation due to Venezuela’s membership in the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR), where Paraguay was suspended after the destitution of President Fernando Lugo, incumbent President Federico Franco slashed the treaties signed in the field of energy.
Speaking at the Institute of High Strategic Studies, attached to the Ministry of Defense, Franco not only questioned the prices paid by Brazil and Argentina for using energy from the abovementioned hydroelectric plants, but also suggested diverting part of that energy to the Canadian firm Rio Tinto Alcan.
The aluminum-producing company plans to operate in the country with authorization from the new government under conditions that have been strongly objected by experts and political and social organizations.
Rio Tinto Alcan’s investment, defended by Franco in his speech, would imply, according to critics, the State-subsidized supply more energy than the entire consumption of the country’s national industry.
That benefit would lead to the creation of poor jobs, in addition to ignoring environmental issues in the zone where the Canadian company will operate.
Franco said he refused to continue “giving away” the energy from the Itaipu and Yacireta plants to Brazil and Argentina, and was emphatic when he suggested an increase in Paraguay’s consumption to supply that energy to Rio Tinto Alcan.
Paraguay owns ten turbines in Itaipu and barely uses one and a half, the rest of them are used by Brazil and Argentina, said Franco, who suggested the possibility of reducing the facilities granted to the two countries by virtue of the agreements in force, local media reported.
He even announced that Paraguay has changed its stance and it will not supply more energy, but will use it for what he called the industrialization of the country.
Franco’s statements came amid a strong media campaign in Paraguay against MERCOSUR and the heads of State of Brazil and Argentina, accusing the integration bloc of being a club of presidents at the service of Venezuela.
Romanian President Poised to Survive Impeachment Referendum
Romania’s suspended President Traian Basescu was poised to survive an impeachment referendum due to low turnout, according to the official preliminary results announced early Monday.
“On Sunday, until 23:00 local time (2100 GMT), when polls were closed, 45.92 percent of voters expressed their electoral option, according to estimates,” announced the country’s Central Electoral Bureau.
This national referendum was held Sunday, between 7:00 and 23:00 (0500 to 2100 GMT), for ousting Basescu, who was suspended by the parliament for alleged abuses of power.
According to the referendum law, the president is dismissed with 50 percent plus one vote of those voting and the referendum is considered valid if the turnout is 50 percent plus one citizen from the permanent electoral lists.
The turnout is apparently below the required minimum to be legally binding and thus he survived, claimed Basescu on national TV, saying “Romanians have invalidated the referendum by not participating.”
Made up of the Social Democratic Party, the National Liberal Party and the Conservative Party, the ruling Liberal Social Union argued that the referendum will be validated, as the turnout was over 50 percent according to the parallel count conducted by the union.
The preliminary results of the Central Electoral Bureau are only estimates, based on the centralization of votes in 2,889 polling stations, out of 18,242, said Dan Sova, senator of the major ruling Social Democratic Party.
The “real” result will be known after completion of counting votes, stressed Liberal’s Vice-Chairman Relu Fenechiu, adding that “we believe the final turnout will be about 52 percent.”
Acting President Crin Antonescu said he will wait for the official results of the Sunday’s referendum.
“We will wait for the official results of the Central Electoral Bureau in a democratic and civilized manner. We will wait for and we will all respect the decision of the Constitutional Court,” Antonescu told a press conference at the Cotroceni Presidential Palace.
This is the second time that Basescu went through an impeachment referendum, after he survived the popular consultation organized on May 19, 2007.
Basescu did not go to the polling station and late Sunday asked “all those who could have endorsed me to stay at home.”
In the three-week campaign for the referendum, Basescu’s main supporter, the Democrat Liberal Party, professed right from the start its solidarity with the suspended president, supporting him throughout the campaign.
Whereas at the earlier rallies, the watchword to the electorate was to vote against the president’s ousting, and the political tune was completely changed on July 24 when the party decided to boycott the referendum in a bid to make the process invalid by an insufficient voter turnout.
On the other hand, high-profile members of the Social Liberal Union called on the citizens to go to the polls.
The parliament approved on July 6 the impeachment request against the president submitted by the ruling Social Liberal Union, a ruling alliance that came to power three months ago.
First elected president in 2004, Basescu steered his country into the European Union five years ago, a historic step for this country.
He was re-elected president for a second 5-year term in 2009, amid allegations of electoral fraud that were ultimately dismissed by the Constitutional Court.
Lebanese Army Chief says not to Allow Buffer Zone in Lebanon
Lebanese Army Commander General Jean Qahwaji said Monday that his forces will not allow turning Lebanon into a battleground for the Syrian crisis or setting up a buffer zone for Syrian rebels in Lebanon, the National News Agency reported.
“No matter where the situation in Syria leads to, the army will be in utmost readiness to play its role and assume its national responsibilities in accordance with the decisions of the political authority in limiting the repercussions of these events on Lebanon, protecting the residents of border regions and preventing strife,” Qahwaji said on the occasion of the 67th anniversary of the army’s founding.
He said the army would stand in the way of any plans aimed to establish a “buffer zone” for Syrian rebels on Lebanese soil.
Qahwaji stressed that the Lebanese army is more “cohesive” and rejected “those who believe that the (military) institution is facing the challenge of preserving its unity under any circumstance.”
“They don’t know that the army is a single entity and all soldiers are loyal only to the nation,” he said.
The army chief also expressed confidence in his forces’ ability to guarantee the stability of the country.
Via PL