Paraguay announced that it is withdrawing all the energy it is entitled to from Yacyretá

The Vice-President of Paraguay, Pedro Alliana, announced that his Government decided to withdraw "100% of the energy power" that corresponds to it from the binational hydroelectric power plant of Yacyretá", which implies a cut in the portion that was usually transferred to Argentina.

"As of 10 o'clock (11 o'clock Argentine time) Paraguay will withdraw 100% of the energy power from Yacyretá", indicated Alliana, temporarily in office as President of the neighboring country. The vice-president said that the decision is "a defense of sovereignty and respect as a country, because Argentina is in debt with us", which the Paraguayan government estimates amounts to US$150 million.

The measure is announced after the disagreements of Paraguay, Brazil, Bolivia and Paraguay with Argentina over the collection of tolls on the Paraná-Paraguay waterway.

The head of the National Electricity Administration (ANDE), Félix Sosa, informed Paraguayan media that the energy being withdrawn will be used for local consumption, in a context of increased demand due to high temperatures.

"We are not analyzing the financial issue, we must remember that this is a strategic and political decision of the national government to withdraw 100% of the energy that corresponds to it", said Sosa in a press conference, in which he assured that Paraguay has "the technical conditions" to do so.

Paraguay usually retains 15% of the energy from the binational Yacyretá power plant, leaving the remaining 85% for Argentina.