Paraguay signed on Thursday (1) a document that cancels the bilateral agreement that favored Brazil in the contraction of energy from the Itaipu dam, thereby saving Paraguay President Abdo Benitez from an impeachment process. Now both countries must re-negotiate the power that Paraguay is expected to buy by 2022.
The Paraguayan government wanted Brazil to support the contract cancellation. The Brazilian government, however, did not accept this and wanted the cancellation to be solely from Paraguay. To support the action, government interlocutors say, would mean agreeing that the agreement negotiated in May is harmful to Paraguay.
The assessment is that Paraguay's annulment of the minutes is sufficient to help Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez, the target of impeachment by the opposition since the document loses its validity only with the decision of one of the parties.
The cancellation caused an immediate reaction in the political trial process that Congress began to prepare against Abdo Benítez, in an extraordinary session that began at 10 am.
With the cancellation of the pact, the group of Senators headed by Horacio Cartes, Honor Colorado, withdrew its support for the removal process.
Without the votes of the current led by the former president of Paraguay, the opposition would not have the necessary number to approve the impeachment of the agent.
Translated by Kiratiana Freelon