MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Reopening Paraguayan border up to President Fernández, Argentina's ambassador to Asunción says

Peppo said borders might open before the end of 2021 but others were confident it would be sooner

The reopening of land borders with Paraguay might take place sometime before the end of 2021, Argentina's Ambassador to Asunción Domingo Peppo said Wednesday.

Peppo explained that the conditions were in place, but the ultimate decision was up to President Alberto Fernández.

The diplomat also pointed out that his country's idea was to start the reopening with Chile and Uruguay, but that there was also a request from the governor of the Argentine province of Misiones for the reopening of the border with Paraguay.

Peppo also acknowledged he had discussed the issue Tuesday with Paraguayan Foreign Minister Euclides Acevedo, who will travel to Buenos Aires later this week to hold negotiations in this regard.

The Paraguayan border crossings to Argentina, unlike those with Brazil, remain closed by a decision of the Argentine Government, which affects citizens in the areas, whose livelihoods rely on tourism.

Other sources were more optimistic than Peppo and believed the borders could be reopened sometime between September and October, after over a year of closure.

According to statements made during a radio interview by Paraguay's Migrations Director Ángeles Arriola and citing recent talks with her Argentine peers, the outcome of negotiations depended on Paraguay's vaccination campaign and the amendments made to it to compensate for the poor results of the Covax mechanism, which have been corrected through donations from developed countries.

“According to the conversations we had with our Argentine counterparts, they hope that between September and October the borders could be reopened, which will depend on the flow of vaccination,” Arriola said.

She also pointed out that in the conversation with Migrations Argentina she was able to notice some progress, so she was able to foresee the reopening would take place by the months of September or October, depending on the vaccination rate.