| Work Detail |
With the approval of the governor of Mendoza, a project was entered into the provincial house of laws to ask the President of the Nation, Javier Milei, to reform the payment agreement for Portezuelo del Viento and expand economic resources in order to allocate them in other works In a context of reduced investment in public works at the national level, under the argument of financial limitations of the State and in the midst of a stagnant economy with significant inflation, the proposal to reallocate the 1,023 million dollars destined for Portezuelo del Viento to other projects acquires crucial importance. This perspective is supported by Governor Alfredo Cornejo, who has given the green light to a project presented in the Legislature with the objective of requesting Javier Milei to reconsider the agreement and allow the redirection of said funds. The author of the initiative is Guillermo Mosso, PRO deputy and ally of Cambia Mendoza. His proposal focuses mainly on modifying the third clause of the agreement signed in June 2019 between Cornejo and former president Mauricio Macri. In said agreement, it was established that if the Portezuelo del Viento dam is not completed, that money will be used for electricity generation works. In this regard, Deputy Mosso explained to Radio Jornada: the idea is that these funds - an industrial compensation fund of 1,023 million dollars - can be used for all types of water works and/or productive infrastructure. And he added: I am referring to works that are intended to generate more resources, and not for minor works. The legislators objective is to avoid possible legal disputes and pave the way for the provincial government to use these funds without the risk of future lawsuits. Ultimately, the aim is to provide flexibility to the destination of resources. On the other hand, Governor Cornejo has publicly expressed his intention to advance with the El Baqueano dam as an integral part of a strategic water plan; it is expected that he will not finance this work entirely with Portezuelo funds. Instead, it seeks to attract private investors who participate in the sale of energy, generating savings and resources that can be used for other initiatives. The governments intention is to use a portion of the money for water projects not necessarily linked to energy generation. In this scenario, collaboration is expected between both parties -Mendoza and the Nation- through Cornejo and Milei, supported by a governance agreement in order to facilitate the achievement of this objective. From the Nation they can look favorably on the execution of public works in Mendoza, given that it is already close to completing the payment of compensation for the damages caused by industrial promotion. This is not the first precedent of the Mendoza Government that intends to modify the Portezuelo del Viento agreement. At the end of 2022, under the governorship of Rodolfo Suárez, the provincial Executive presented a brief arguing why the award of former president Alberto Fernández was key to moving forward with the tender for the dam located in Malargüe. However, Mendozas request was unsuccessful. Fernández not only ruled in favor of La Pampa, but also did not grant the reform of the agreement. |
