MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

South American pipe dream ?a joke'

The former prime minister of Spain, Felipe González, said that South America's natural gas pipeline “is a joke” and that “it will never be carried out.”

Speaking at a conference in Madrid, he said that "the natural gas pipeline from Lake Maracaibo to Patagonia is a project that will not be carried out and no one dares to say it... because it is not rational and does not have the support from Bolivia, which is the axis of articulation of this joke," according to international agencies.

In turn, the chief economist of the Repsol YPF oil company, Antonio Merino, attributed "the nationalization of energy resources" to the hindering of investment processes, speaking of the Southern Cone countries, but without specifically singling out any particular country.

González and Merino made these statements at the annual Club de Madrid conference entitled "Energy and democratic leadership: challenges."

The statement by González refers to the initiative being explored by the presidents of Venezuela, Brazil, and Argentina for the building of a mega-pipeline which would require the integration of Bolivia, which holds some of the region's largest natural reserves.