Caracas – A Brazilian electricity company received a $55 million loan from the Andean Development Corp. to build a power line from Venezuela even though Indians don’t want it crossing the rain forest.
Centrais Eletricas Brasileiras (Eletrobras) received the 10-year loan, which will be used to finance the 266-kilometer (160-mile) Brazilian section of the power line. Terms weren’t released.
The bank has authorized $81 million to connect the two countries’ power grids. This was the first of several loan payouts.
Members of a Venezuelan Indian tribe blocked the main highway linking the two countries last week because they say construction of the line will destroy the rain forest in the region.
The Indians, who have threatened to close the highway again, were planning to meet with the government about the issue.
The line will stretch from the Guri Dam hydroelectric plant in Venezuela to the Brazilian city of Boa Vista.
The Venezuelan segment, which stretches 480 kilometers (298 miles) from Guri in the southeastern state of Bolivar to the border, is expected to cost $105.8 million. Transmission of electricity is expected to begin by 1999.
Venezuela’s state electricity company, Electrificacion del Caroni, said it expects to earn about $36 million a year from the sale of electricity once the line is finished.
