MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Italian President arrives in Paraguay

Abdo and Mattarella are to have lunch Friday and Saturday

Italian President Sergio Mattarella arrived Thursday in Paraguay on a state visit, it was reported in Asunción. It is the first official visit of a President of the Italian Republic to Paraguay. Earlier in his South American tour, the European leader had been touring Chilean Patagonia.

Mattarella, who was welcomed at the Silvio Pettirossi airport by Foreign Minister Julio César Arriola, is scheduled to meet his Paraguayan colleague Mario Abdo Benítez at the Government Palace on Friday morning, after which they will have lunch in Mburuvicha Róga.

The Italian leader also plans to pay a visit to the Congress building and other sites of interest in the Paraguayan capital, including the National University.

On Saturday, the visiting head of state will be touring the city of Hernandarias, in the Department of Alto Paraná, for a complete tour of the facilities of the Itaipú Binacional Hydroelectric Power Plant together with general directors Manuel María Cáceres from Paraguay and Enio Verri from Brazil.

Before arriving in Paraguay, Mattarella went to Chilean Patagonia. His tour comes days ahead of the July 17-18 Summit in Brussels between the European Union (EU) and the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Commission (CELAC).

During his stop at Fort Bulnes, 50 kilometers south of Punta Arenas, Mattarella highlighted that that place “will become increasingly important as Antarctica grows in importance to the world, more and more.”

“Latin America and Europe can together be promoters of good causes, sharing the vision of a world in which international relations are based on multilateralism and the construction of common institutions,” Mattarella said during a conference at the University of Chile, recalling also the conflict in Ukraine -

Abdo and Mattarella are to have lunch after the Itaipú tour. Then at 3.15 pm, Mattarella will leave for Italy from Ciudad del Este.