Monday, May 28th 2012 - 01:01 UTC

Argentina and Brazil celebrate naming of Iguazú Falls as one of New7Wonders

A huge orchestra comprising 700 children from seven Latin American countries, plus China and South Korea, played music from the soundtrack of “The Mission” as the Iguazú Falls shared by Argentina and Brazil were officially inaugurated one of the New7Wonders of Nature.

Weber (left) and Misiones governor Maurice Closs (right) unveil the plaque listing Iguazu Falls as one of the New7Wonders of Nature

Gustavo Santaolalla conducting the youth international orchestra during the inauguration ceremonies in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

Conducted by double-Oscar winner Gustavo Santaolalla, the youth orchestra performance on Saturday was one of the highlights of the ceremonies in Puerto Iguazú, which is located in the Argentine province of Misiones.

The ceremony naming Iguazu Falls as one of the world's new seven wonders of nature also included the unveiling of a plaque by Bernard Weber founder-president of New7Wonders on the Argentine side as he had done the day before in Brazil.

Among the dignitaries attending the inauguration were, Bernard Weber; Enrique Meyer, the Argentine Minister of Tourism; Maurice Closs, Governor of Misiones Province and Marcelo Sánchez, mayor of Puerto Iguazú.

Tourism Minister Meyer predicted that the listing of Iguazu Falls as one of the New7Wonders of Nature would rank it “as one of the major tourist attractions of South America,” while Governor Closs said that the inauguration confirms the falls as “the main tourist destination inside Argentina.”

Speaking at a press conference in Puerto Iguazú, Bernard Weber said that New7Wonders is studying the feasibility of constructing museums of the New7Wonders of Nature and related theme parks around the world.

The official inauguration celebrations actually took off on Friday on the Brazilian side, in Foz do Iguaçu, Parana State accompanied by music and fireworks plus the unveiling of a specially cast commemorative bronze plaque honoring the cross-border achievement

“The election of Iguazu Falls as one of the New7Wonders of Nature is something that everyone here can take pride in. It is now part of Global Memory” said Bernard Weber, Admiring the plaque Paulo Mac Donald Ghisi, mayor of Foz do Iguaçu, declared: “It’s the World Cup of Nature!”

On Sunday the first New7Wonders World Congress opened in Puerto Iguazú (Argentina) focusing on how representatives of the seven elected sites can work to promote their tourism and development plans jointly.

The results are the product of a consultation process which ran from December 2007 to July 2009. Argentina and Brazil shared the candidacy of the site in the global voting campaign that ended on 11 November last year.
 

Published in: Environment, Tourism, Argentina, Brazil, Latin America, Paraguay.
Tags: Gustavo Santaolalla, Iguazu falls, New7Wonders of Nature, Puerto Iguazú.

11 comments Feed

Note: Comments do not reflect MercoPress’ opinions. They are the personal view of our users. We wish to keep this as open and unregulated as possible. However, rude or foul language, discriminative comments (based on ethnicity, religion, gender, nationality, sexual orientation or the sort), spamming or any other offensive or inappropriate behaviour will not be tolerated. Please report any inadequate posts to the editor. Comments must be in English. Thank you.

1 Guzz (#) May 28th, 2012 - 01:10 pm Report abuse
Regardless your origin or ideology, Iguazu is worth the trip. Truly amazing piece of work by nature, and if your lucky enough and get the old ladies around to shut up, you could actually hear the water...
2 v for victory (#) May 28th, 2012 - 03:28 pm Report abuse
Truely fantastic! hope I get the chance to see it when I visiting SA later this year.
3 British_Kirchnerist (#) May 28th, 2012 - 03:49 pm Report abuse
Will try and go when I take that trip to Argntina my opponents on here are always campaigning for =) Though if they really want me to go, how about a whip round? =)
4 cornishair (#) May 28th, 2012 - 05:11 pm Report abuse
“Bernard Weber said that New7Wonders is studying the feasibility of constructing museums of the New7Wonders of Nature and related theme parks around the world.” building theme parks & museums, kinda makes the idea seem pointless?. As its all about “Nature” why build?
5 Tabutos (#) May 28th, 2012 - 05:14 pm Report abuse
it does look quite beautiful
6 cornishair (#) May 28th, 2012 - 05:19 pm Report abuse
so don't build theme parks anywhere nere it! :p
7 tobias (#) May 28th, 2012 - 05:42 pm Report abuse
They are 82% in Argentine territory. Foreign tourist should be banned from the falls. Let them see them from “afar” on the Brazilian side.
8 Fido Dido (#) May 29th, 2012 - 05:43 am Report abuse
Well Tobias, not to hurt your “pride”, the best view i had (July 2001, I visited Iguacu falls), and many tourists (include argentines)..is from the Brazilian side.
9 tobias (#) May 29th, 2012 - 05:52 am Report abuse
@8

DUH! Fool... do you think I don't know that, why do you think I said it? The best overall view is the Brazilian side... because they basically don't have sovereignty over the falls, they are 4/5 in “argieland”.

So I hope you enjoy them because you ain't going into the argie side if the new law banning foreigners from going into the falls passes.
10 Brit Bob (#) Jun 01st, 2012 - 07:57 pm Report abuse
I heard a rumour that Brasil rejected Argentina's first choice to name them the General Belgrano falls!
11 f0rgetit87 (#) Jun 01st, 2012 - 11:50 pm Report abuse
Come to the Brazilian side, it's far better than the Argentine side. Brazil knows how to develop a tourist industry not destroy one.

Commenting for this story is now closed.
If you have a Facebook account, become a fan and comment on our Facebook Page!

Advertisement

Get Email News Reports!

Get our news right on your inbox.
Subscribe Now!

Advertisement