Through a joint event held last Thursday, April 20 in the port of Ensenada , the national government accompanied by the authorities of the province of Buenos Aires made official the call for bids to begin the authorization of the Magdalena Canal . After a series of advances and setbacks in the management of this measure, the call for public tenders for dredging and beaconing tasks of the work was announced , which will connect the coastal river system with the maritime platform of the Argentine Republic .

The Buenos Aires governor Axel Kicillof highlighted the importance of the Magdalena as a strategic infrastructure, essential for the exercise of national sovereignty since it will allow direct transit along the Argentine national coast without the need to request authorization from the Uruguayan state. In addition, he highlighted the economic benefits which will report the opening of the Magdalena, also called Canal Sur , both for the national and provincial coffers and for local companies that work with the loading and transportation of grains and heavy materials.

Kicillof attributed the realization of this project to the support and accompaniment of political organizations and activists , who managed to sustain the importance of Magdalena within public opinion during recent years. At the same time, he thanked the political will of different representatives and officials present during the announcement, who promoted the execution of this measure. "It cannot be that we Argentines have to ask for permission to freely navigate our rivers and seas," he said, adding: "The solution to that debt that we have had for a long time is called the Magdalena Canal."

The governor also made a brief historicization of the discussion around the benefits of the Canal, which dates back to the time of the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata and the dawn of the republic. Finally he recalled that the work was destined to begin execution in 2015, but that the project was abandoned by the management of former President Mauricio Macri after the documentation and reports referring to the Canal were irretrievably lost.

In the same sense, Argentine President Alberto Fernández referred to the authorization of the Magdalena as an indispensable work for the sovereign development of the country, while commenting on the difficulties and external pressures that prevented progress with this project in previous years. Fernández referred to the authorization of the Magdalena as part of a program that includes the creation of an entity for the regulation of the Paraguay-Paraná river circuit, also known as Hidrovía , which will begin to operate in the city of Rosario .

An opportunity for sovereign development

Although the authorization and commissioning of the Magdalena Canal was reviewed during the joint event as a work aimed at promoting the cereal industry, its opening implies the possibility of beginning to develop the productive potential of the Argentine Sea and achieving full integration of the territories. austral and antarctic. According to various projects and investigations , the use of the Magdalena has the potential to transport maritime transportation and transit along the Atlantic coast, promoting the reactivation of the naval industry in Argentina .

Another of the aspects most closely linked to sovereign development is found in the reduction of costs for the transportation of the electronic industry located in the province of Tierra del Fuego , since it would allow expanding the offer of services in the production of technological inputs that currently must be be imported due to the lack of competitiveness in this sector.By allowing transport by sea, the logistics of the Fuegian industry could be deployed on a regional and even continental scale, due to its privileged position within the bi-oceanic corridor.

On the night of the same Thursday, during the reopening of the main hall of the Argentine Theater in the city of La Plata , Governor Axel Kicillof referred to the joint event held in the port of Ensenada and highlighted to the audience that the authorization of the Magdalena Canal It is a work designed to recover national sovereignty over the Argentine Sea , improve integration with Patagonia and increase resources for the development of the Argentine naval industry. “Opening the Magdalena is looking towards the Malvinas,” Kicillof highlighted, “it is looking towards the Argentine Sea and also towards Antarctica.”

Although this aspect was not delved into during the announcements of the event, the authorization of the Magdalena Canal also influences Argentina 's sovereign position on the white continent, since it is part of a series of structural works essential to exercise control and monitoring of its territory. In parallel to the canal works, it is planned to install a floating dock in Ensenada to connect this naval plant with the integrated base of the Argentine Navy in the city of Ushuaia , which is why it is considered that the authorization of the Magdalena It is a project with a geopolitical nature for the South American region.

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