Argentina and Uruguay presidents agree to build new bridge connecting their countries

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Alberto Fernández and Luis Alberto Lacalle Pou agreed to jointly build an international bridge connecting Monte Caseros in Argentina’s Corrientes province with the Uruguayan city of Bella Unión. In addition, the Uruguayan government pledged to support Argentina’s bid for the presidency of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC).

The joint dinner held last Friday at the Olivo presidential residence served to ease relations between the two countries, which had deteriorated due to negotiations on Mercosur trade issues, and allowed progress in cooperation.

The construction of a new bridge over the Uruguay River to connect Monte Caseros with Bella Unión (in the department of Artigas) has been under discussion for more than three decades. As early as 1985, the province of Corrientes declared the project to be of “provincial interest”. Both governments will now try to get the CAF (Development Bank of Latin America) to finance the project. The technical and economic feasibility and environmental impact studies are dated February and March 2017.

The bridge would be key for the development of the northern part of Uruguay and important for the regional bloc, as it is very close to the border with Brazil. Because of its proximity to Barra do Quaraí, a Brazilian municipality in Rio Grande do Sul with a population of only 4,300, this new road would facilitate trade between Mercosur countries.

When completed, the Monte Caseros-Bella Unión bridge will be the fourth bridge between the two countries. Previously, there were links between Colón (Entre Ríos) and Paysandú, inaugurated in 1975, between Puerto Unzué (near Gualeguaychú) and Fray Bentos (1976), and between Concordia and Salto (1982).

According to an article in the Montevideo newspaper El Observador, the Uruguayan delegation of the Uruguay River Administrative Commission (CARU) had already held several meetings with CAF. The commission president, Mario Ayala, confirmed to the newspaper that “the CAF has expressed interest in financing the project.”

CAF-Banco de Desarrollo is a development bank founded in 1970 that includes 19 countries, 17 of which are from Latin America and the Caribbean, Spain, and Portugal, and 13 private banks from the region.

The project would consist of a 12-kilometer road, with a 1,780 meter long bridge over the Uruguay River. The neighboring countries wants to move forward with a highway that would significantly improve their foreign trade.