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Ahead of the bi-nation meeting, tension between Argentina and Chile brings doubts for the Agua Negra (Ebitan) tunnel project progress

    Danilo Merges
    By Danilo Merges Replies (1)

     

    There is a Agua Negra Tunnel ('Ebitan' tunnel) meeting scheduled for September 30 between the governments of Argentina and Chile. There is a fear that there will not be much progress because of the recent tensions between the two countries. The tensions stem from Chile's decision to set new limits for maritime rights in South Atlantic.

    Diario de Cuyo quotes Andrés Zini, an Argentinian undersecretary for Coordination of Projects and Tenders, (Ministry of Public Works and Services) , admitting that "it is not the best time" for the meeting. Yet he think it is still positive news because at least a meeting is taking place. These bi-nation meetings for the Agua Negra tunnel was supposed to take every 3 months yet the last meeting was on October 19, in 2019! Public unrest in Chile and later the pandemic prevented the regular meetings from taking place.

    Even worse, in December 2020, the Chilean government has decided not to withdraw the 1.5 billion dollars loan that the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) was giving for the tunnel work. Before the meeting on 30 September, there is also another meeting between the foreign ministers of the both country on 8 September. Argentinian side will try to understand the reasons behind Chile's withdrawal from loan opportunity. Optimisticaly because Chile has other sources of funding?

    https://www.diariodecuyo.com.ar/economia/Hay-dudas-y-pocas-expectativas-de-poder-avanzar-con-el-proyecto-del-tunel-en-Ebitan-20210901-0108.html

     

     

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