The Javier Milei government will issue a new call for bids for a 60-year concession for the Hidrovía [1]. This will further solidify the transfer of Argentine sovereignty to foreign companies that began in 1995.
—Alejandro Iturbe
The Hidrovía is a river transport route comprising the Paraguay, Paraná, and Río de la Plata rivers. It passes through ports in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In Argentina, the waterway crosses seven provinces and connects to numerous ports and the road and rail network. The waterway transports 80% of Argentina’s agricultural exports and 90% of its imports. In other words, the waterway is of strategic importance to the Latin American Southern Cone, especially Argentina.
For this reason, foreign companies have long sought to gain control of it by “buying” governments. This began in 1995 when the Peronist government of Carlos Menem granted a 25-year concession to Hidrovía SA, a consortium formed by the Belgian company Jan de Nul and the Argentine company Emepa, which is owned by Gabriel Romero. Romero became wealthy thanks to his “friendship” with Menem [2].
A lot of business
The waterway allows for the generation of a lot of business. The first is the contract for maintaining the waterway, which costs $80 million per year. The second is collecting “tolls” ($300 million per year). Those who control the waterway earn an annual profit of $220 million with no business risk.
The biggest business is currency and tax evasion through soybean smuggling, such as declaring less weight than is actually transported or exporting Argentine soybeans and making them appear as if they came from Paraguay. This way, there is no need to account for the dollars received in the country or pay taxes on that portion of exports. It is estimated that two out of every ten dollars of soybeans exported by Argentina disappear through this type of smuggling[3]. In 2024, the Argentine soybean complex exported nearly $20 billion, representing an estimated $4 billion in tax evasion per year. The majority of shipping through the waterway is carried out by foreign companies.
All governments in the “business”
Since 1995, all Argentine governments (Radical, Peronist, and Macrist) have honored this concession without question. When the concession expired, the Alberto Fernández–Cristina Kirchner government granted the General Port Administration (AGP, a state agency) the right to provide concession services and prepare a new general tender for 20 years[4].
All attempts at tendering, including one last February, have failed due to disputes among the European companies bidding for the contract[5]. The Milei government wants to “finish the job.” Transportation experts have denounced the tender specifications for several reasons[6]. The main reason is the surrender of Argentina’s river sovereignty in the Paraná-Río de la Plata axis, as well as over the South Atlantic.
This surrender is exacerbated by DNU 340/25 (Decree of Necessity and Urgency), which aims to dismantle the Argentine merchant marine and its workers’ conditions. That is why we must fight to prevent this tender and the implementation of DNU 340/25, as the sailors are doing through strikes and demonstrations[7].
It is a struggle that must be taken up by the entire working class to establish an integrated system of river, port, rail, and road transportation under worker control. To achieve sovereignty, we must expropriate all foreign and national private companies that currently exploit and plunder our resources. This is the proposal of the Argentine PSTU.
Sources:
[1] Nuevo llamado a licitación para la concesión de la Hidrovía
[2] http://clarin.com/politica/gabriel-romero-radical-toda-vida-llegada-gobiernos_0_r1v_CAl87.html
[3] Hidrovía: dos de cada diez dólares de venta de soja se contrabandea por el canal fluvial | El Destape
[4] Hidrovía: cómo se administrará ahora y quién se quedará con la licitación | El Destape
[5] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1m925AYFYk
[6] https://www.diariojunio.com.ar/114176-2/
[7] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHrvq_V_DSc&t=59s
