The meeting of new mayors and mayors, which takes place this week, in Brasilia, discussed the promotion of integration between the municipalities of border of Brazil. Gathered on Wednesday (12), mayors and municipal managers of border cities discussed, with representatives of the federal government, projects for integration with cities of neighboring countries.
About 11 million Brazilians live in municipalities located in the so -called border range. The area represents 16% of the national territory, with a width of 150 kilometers from the line that divides Brazil from its ten South American neighbors.
The mayor of Bagé (RS), Luiz Fernando Mainardi (PT), who directs a municipality that borders Uruguay, highlighted the need for policies for the development of border cities.
“We have a set of investment and compensation requirements because, throughout our history, we have been thought to national security, not from the point of view of development. This is so much that the municipalities of border are, as a rule, those who have the lowest human development rates and the lowest employment rates compared to other regions, ”he said in an interview with Brazil agency.
Brazil has 124 municipalities linked to other nations. In addition, there are 33 “gem cities”, which are municipalities with strong integration with a city in the neighboring country, usually glued together.
Border range represents 16% of the Brazilian territory – Ipea/Disclosure
Experiences
One of the experiences shared at the meeting was that of the International Parliament (Parlim), which is the body formed between Ponta Porã (MS), Brazil, and Pedro Juan Caballero, from Paraguay. Already with 25 years of operation, Parim gathers representatives of the councils of councilors of the two cities to articulate joint law projects, approved on the same day in both local parliaments.
Other initiatives released were those promoted by the Federal University of Latin American Integration (Unilam), from Foz do Iguaçu (PR), which created the Universities Network of Borders, which already brings together 14 institutions and promote projects for Latin American regional integration.
The mayor of Dionísio Cerqueira (SC), Bianca Maran Bertamonte (PL), participated in the debate to know projects that strengthen integration with the neighboring country.
“It is very important to see other border practices so that we take models to our border and can develop mechanisms that approach us. Today the laws are formulated in Brasilia and Buenos Aires, which are very far from our reality. So, for us, visualizing practices from other borders brings a luggage so that we can deploy on our border, ”explained the mayor.
The municipality of Dionísio Cerqueira borders the Argentine municipality of Bernardo Birigones. A street separates the gem cities. Mayor Bianca defended policies to facilitate traffic between the two cities.
“We do not have a card, for example, as a transfronted citizen. Another difficulty we have is the trade. It has a lot of misdemeanor or even smuggling. This is because we are two countries, each with its own legislation, but trade is daily. We are affected by both Argentine and Brazilian economic policies, ”he added.
Business
For their condition of neighbors from other countries, the municipalities of Fronteira face own challenges As immigration, international smuggling, strong presence of organized crime, absence of local economic development projects and high school dropout.
It is estimated that the smuggling Move, per year, hundreds of billions of reais in Brazil, leading to tax evasion that should enter the public coffers.
The mayor of Cobija, from Bolivia, Ana Lúcia Reis, who manages a municipality that borders the Brazilian cities of Brasileia (RO) and Epitaciolândia (RO), participated in the debates at the mayors meeting in Brasilia. For the Bolivian mayor, there must be flexibility for trade in border cities.
“Brazil, as well, being a country in industries, has a well -closed market for imports. So I think in the border area should have a flexibility. It’s not that our products have to go beyond the border, but at least to the border it should be able to circulate at lower rates, ”he said.
Mayor Meeting
More than 20,000 mayors and municipal managers participate in the meeting that aims to bring municipalities closer to federal programs, with the expansion of local investments, training managers in fundraising and strengthening the federative pact.
The event takes place until next Thursday (13), with conferences, workshops and booths of presentation of various public agencies. All ministries will attend municipal managers at the meeting site.
