Axel Kicillof once again claimed and defended the construction of the Magdalena Channel. “We have to make it our flag and a victory for the province of Buenos Aires because it means more production and work, but above all it represents our national sovereignty,” he said this Saturday in Cove.
There, the governor of the province of Buenos Aires led a massive event in support of the completion of the Magdalena Canal, together with the president of the Port of La Plata, José María Lojo; the three mayors of the capital region, Fabian Cagliardi of Berissothe store Mario Seccothe platense Julio Alak; and Jorge Ferraresiof Avellaneda.
Also present were the vice governor, Veronica Magario; the head of the Governor’s Advisors, Cristina Álvarez Rodríguez; the Minister of Women, Gender Policies and Sexual Diversity, Estela Diaz; the Minister of Community Development, Andres Larroque; that of Work, Walter Correa; national and provincial deputies; among other officials.
“Today, maritime and river Argentina is divided, the sea and river ports do not have a direct connection, today the ships to complete cargo, to remove 80 percent of the exports and for the imports to enter, to go from the north to the south Argentine, they have to sail to Montevideo and obtain permission from the Uruguayan prefecture,” stated the governor.
Kicillof recalled that “Manuel Belgrano had already said that the southern channel, what we call Magdalena Channel today, was the way to unite the ports of Paraná with the ports of the Atlantic.that southern channel is the one we have to prioritize.”
At the event, the president of Puerto La Plata highlighted the meeting led by the governor in support of the completion of the canal and the broad call to vindicate a fundamental issue for Argentine sovereignty.
Furthermore, he reaffirmed that “Having the canal is having the sovereignty that we do not have today.“, is to be able to directly connect our rivers with our sea without having to divert to Uruguay, is to improve river-maritime connectivity and consolidate Bicontinental Argentina.”
New supports
Experts agree that transit through Magdalena will be infinitely shorter and cheaper than through Punta Indio (55 km long vs. 120) and more comfortable and safe (150 meters wide compared to 100), which would benefit producers, not only in the province, but in the entire central strip of the country.
Probably for that reason, The channel begins to garner support from leaders from other provinces. One of them is Mendoza Guillermo Carmonasecretary of the Malvinas, Antarctica and South Atlantic until last December, who expressed his support for the act.
“The dredging of the Magdalena channel is a fundamental work for national development because it will be the optimal means of articulation between the Plata Basin and the South Atlantic,” said the man from Mendoza. And he added: “At a time when the national government is promoting the paralysis of infrastructure works and the foreignization of control of navigable waterways, the decision to carry out this work expressed by the Buenos Aires government and the municipalities of Berisso, Ensenada and La Plata is a powerful signal of defense of sovereignty and commitment to national development”.
Recently, members of the Maritime, Port and Fisheries Interests Commission of the Chamber of Deputies of the province of Buenos Aires, who represent different political forces, committed to the project. It happened within the framework of a meeting that the commission, chaired by the man from Mar del Plata Gustavo Pultimaintained the port of La Plata as its host headquarters.
The work itself
The dredging of the Magdalena Canal would continue the route of the Argentine Canal towards the south from El Codillothus allowing the connection between maritime and river traffic without necessarily passing through Montevideo, as currently occurs.
Navigation of the Río de la Plata is only possible within the channels dredged and maintained for this purpose, due to the enormous amount of sedimentation material, its currents and tides. The work is valued at about 40 million dollars and estimates indicate that it would pay for itself with the benefits of the first year.
The Río de la Plata is fed mainly by the Paraná and Uruguay rivers, which in turn are fed by the Paraguay, Bermejo, Pilcomayo and Iguazú rivers. It is the obligatory outlet for agricultural production in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Bolivia.
Consequently, The management of the last port before going to sea has enormous commercial and geopolitical implications. Already in the 19th century, British diplomacy warned about the importance for that country’s trade of preventing a single State from controlling both banks of the river.
Background
The government of Alberto Fernandez He finally agreed last October to prepare the bidding documents to advance the dredging of the Magdalena channel in his last year of management, but some technical details meant that no bidders were presented. The National Administration of Ports and Navigable Waterways He was working on the necessary corrections when the mandate ended.
In the previous four-year period, Mauricio Macri’s administration deliberately shelved the Magdalena project, but did not dare to give consent for the expansion of the port of Montevideo. Sources specialized in logistics and geopolitics maintain that this handbrake was one of the unwritten demands of the International Monetary Fundin exchange for the agreed disbursements.
Now, the government of Javier Milei authorized the expansion of the Uruguayan port, an eastern desire of more than ten years. The measure involves the deepening of the draft up to 14 meters deep, to allow access for larger cargo ships. It implies enormous development prospects for that port, but to the detriment of the connection between the river and maritime system of Argentina, especially to the detriment of the Buenos Aires ports of The Silver and White Bay.
