Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Paraguayan Foreign Minister Rubén Ramírez Lezcano on Aug. 4 signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Strategic Civil Nuclear Cooperation, extending U.S. nuclear energy diplomacy into Latin America.
The agreement follows the historic U.S.-Saudi Arabia civil nuclear cooperation deal signed in July and adds Paraguay to a growing list of nations entering nuclear partnership frameworks with the United States.
The MOU is a non-binding framework agreement that typically precedes more formal cooperative arrangements under Section 123 of the Atomic Energy Act, which governs international nuclear commerce. Such agreements establish the legal and diplomatic foundation for sharing nuclear technology, training and materials for peaceful purposes.
The Paraguay signing signals an accelerating U.S. strategy to extend civilian nuclear partnerships across the Western Hemisphere. The State Department’s Bureau of Energy Resources has been leading an active diplomatic campaign to position American nuclear technology in emerging markets.
Paraguay, a landlocked South American nation of approximately seven million people, currently relies primarily on hydroelectric power from the Itaipú Dam, one of the world’s largest hydroelectric facilities shared with Brazil.
The agreement comes as the United States competes with China and Russia for influence in the global civil nuclear market, where both countries have aggressively marketed reactor technology to developing nations.