Presidents Lula da Silva, Evo Morales, Néstor Kirchner and Hugo Chávez will meet in Puerto de Iguazú, Argentina this Thursday, May 4. The South American presidents will discuss common strategies in energy sector development, according to Venezuelan and Argentine sources. The gathering could induct Bolivia into the Southern Gas Pipeline Megaproject being propelled by Argentina, Brazil and Venezuela.
Puerto de Iguazú lies in the middle of the tri-border (Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay) area that is a bastion of natural resources, but the US government claims the scantly-policed area is a bastion for terrorist activity, mostly supporting Hezbollah. The area sits on a huge aquifer and a variety of exploitable minerals.
Thursday’s Presidential gathering could be chillier than one would have expected after Bolivia’s front man Morales nationalized his nation’s gas fields last week. The Financial Times reports that Lula called the meeting after he and his energy ministers studyied the question on Tuesday. Caught in the sweep was Brazil’s Petrobras, whose operations in Bolivia constitute 15% of Bolivia’s GDP. Petrobras has invested $1.5Billion in the development of infrastructure since 1996.
Silas Rondeau, Minister of Mines and Energy for Brazil, said that he considered the bolivian gas nationalization "an unfriendly gesture." But Lula later overruled his minister saying that Bolivia had a right to seize the state company’s assets.