PARAGUAY / BRASIL: Annual $240 Million From Brasilia...Another Challenge For Prez. Lugo.

AP/ M.HERALD/ P. Servin
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   Social unrest is growing there as politically weakened current President Lugo (above R. with Lula) fights lymphatic cancer and a conservative congress...with Paraguay soon to receive an extra $240 million usd annually for hydroelectric power from neighbor Brasil.
     In 2009, President Lula da Silva agreed to triple Brasil's payments to Paraguay from the huge Itaipu dam - from $120 million to $360 million a year.
    Paraguay's annual budget is only $8 billion and it doesn't have an income tax...so $240 million more a year is a vast sum to spend. The disagreement now is...how will it be spent?
  

BRASIL: Blackouts Strand 60 Million, Some For 4 Hours.

BLOOMBERG
Power in Rio, Sao Paulo and other cities was out for more as much as 4 hours after transmission problems from the Itaipu hydroelectric dam. Airports and subways were halted. Muggers robbed a group of people near Rio's Maracana stadium but police say crime did not rise in Rio and fell in Sao Paulo during the outage. Outages hit 18 of the 26 states in the nation of 190 million people but power remained in Brasilia, its capital.

Paraguay Targets Argentina For Energy Debt Relief.

From MercoPress.

Paraguay wants to renegotiate the huge debt both countries share for building the Yacireta dam.

Brasil Reaches Agreement With Paraguay Over Power Fees.

From Bloomberg.

Anger In Paraguay Over Brasil's Low Electricity Payments.

From Bloomberg.

Paraguay resents a treaty with Brasil that bans it from selling excess power from its dam on the Parana river to other countries.

Paraguay estimates it could gain as much as $860 million dollars annually by such sales.

"Itaipu’s 1973 treaty, written by the dictators then in power in both countries, reflects the 'realpolitik of an ant staring up at an elephant,'" said a historian.