MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine PNA to patrol Bolivia-bordering river

“We have also come to this area to say enough,” Bullrich insisted

Argentine authorities have taken steps towards patrolling the Bolivia-bordering Bermejo River with Coast Guard (Prefectura Naval Argentina - PNA) units so as not to leave the neighboring country as the only one with an armed presence in the area, Security Minister Patricia Bullrich announced.

“For the first time we are going to have authority for the river and not only our Bolivian neighbors will be the ones to determine the course of the river, but it will also be the PNA, our police authority in our rivers, in our lakes, and in our seas,” Bullrich said. “We are proud to have achieved this border control with the PNA,” she added during a speech in the town of Aguas Blancas, in the northern province of Salta, bordering Bolivia. Aguas Blancas is “one of the most important places where the Argentine State, at the provincial and national levels, must have a presence,” she also pointed out.

Aguas Blancas is a city in the Salta department of Oran, opposite the Bolivian city of Bermejo, in the department of Tarija. They are separated by the upper Bermejo River, which runs along southern Bolivia and northern Argentina, thus becoming a natural border between the two countries.

The Argentine official was launching the so-called Güemes Plan to combat drug and human trafficking in addition to smuggling in the region. She also highlighted that Border Patrol (Gendarmería Nacional) troops had been reinforced and so had the local Federal Police garrison through the deployment of PNA officers. “We have also come to this area to say enough to drug trafficking, to hired killings, to uncontrolled border roads,” the Minister stressed.

The people of Salta “will recover their streets and their borders because drug trafficking, terror, and the streets [which have been] taken over by criminal gangs will no longer have a place in this region,” she argued.

Plan Güemes consists of a 310-strong federal force deployed in critical areas, with an intensive presence in strategic points such as the Bermejo River and National Route 34, also known as the “Drug Route.” The plan involves joint efforts between federal and provincial forces in addition to the Judiciary and the Public Prosecutor's Offices for Drug Crimes and Money Laundering.

Argentina's border with Bolivia has become a porous zone with residents doing their shopping in Bolivia to capitalize on the local currency's weakening coupled with the strengthening of the peso, which is pushing prices above international average levels. Barges crossing the Bermejo River to Aguas Blancas with illegal merchandise used to be a common sight driven by the “scandalous” price differences on the Bolivian side.

But the recent flooding of the Bermejo River after heavy rainfall in its upper basin led to the suspension of crossing in barges and rubber dinghies as queues reached up to 5 kilometers to cross through the legal paths.

Around AR$ 1,100 represents US$ 1, or 11 Bolivianos, which can buy a whole “hearty lunch” in Bolivia, according to Salta's El Tribuno. Clothing, footwear, and car spare parts are also coveted by Argentine travelers who save fortunes on each trip.