Parintins. At the official event for the resumption of the “Luz Para Todos” (Light for All) program, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in Brazil signed a decree that will in future supply the northern state of Roraima with energy from Venezuela’s Guri hydroelectric power station. This will connect hundreds of cities to the national power grid. Amazon regions should also benefit from a green energy supply.
On Twitter Lula announced that 2.6 billion reais (about 480 million euros) will be invested in the electricity supply from the neighboring country and will benefit the state.
“By signing the import decree, we not only authorize the purchase of energy from Venezuela, but also initiate the energy interconnection in South America,” Mines and Energy Minister Alexandre Silveira said at the event.
It is also an opportunity to “fulfil the contracts and obtain clean and renewable energy from Venezuela from the Guri Power Plant, which will play an important role in ensuring cheap and sustainable energy for Roraima State,” it said. The energy cooperation with Venezuela not only creates energy security, but also represents economic incentives.
For Head of State Lula, the clear goal is to “restore” public policy, which was neglected after his last presidency (2003-2010) and also under his successor Dilma Rousseff. Ex-President Jair Bolsonaro suspended the “Luz para todos” program in 2019.
The resumption of electricity supply from Guri was discussed back in May when Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro visited Lula as part of the Unasur (Union of South American Nations) meeting in Brazil. Since taking office in January, the Brazilian president has been trying to reactivate relations with Venezuela. He also supports the country’s inclusion in the group of Brics states (america21 reported).
The matter surrounding the bilateral energy agreement was also raised at the summit convened by Lula with representatives from Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador, Colombia, Guyana, Peru and Suriname in Belém, the capital of Pará State. At the Amazon Summit, all eight countries bordering the Amazon region in Brazil came together to agree on measures that would enable a balance between environmental protection and economic and social development in the region.
Roraima already drew electricity from Venezuela’s Guri Dam between 2001 and 2019, but this was cut during Bolsonaro’s tenure. Due to the diplomatic radio silence between the two countries, Roraima was affected by widespread power outages.
As the only state in Brazil, Roraima does not belong to the National Interconnected Network (SIN) for the generation and transmission of electricity. This status is now set to change under Lula.