The image of the waters joined by the Casiquiare canal in Venezuela, which naturally connects the Amazon and Orinoco basins over 326 km, conveys the continental scale of inland waterway navigation on the American continent.
This continental longitudinal river system, foreseen by Humboldt in the 19th century as the basis for the interior development of the continent, would give rise to the hypothesis of linking the Orinoco, Amazon, and Plata rivers via inland waterway navigation: the North-South Waterway, or the Orinoco-Amazon-Plata Waterway (ORIAMAPLA).
The design of ORIAMAPLA integrates the three largest river basins in South America, connecting by waterway the countries of Uruguay, Argentina, Paraguay, Bolivia, Brazil, and Venezuela, between Montevideo and Buenos Aires and the Amacuro Delta at the mouth of the Orinoco River, comprising 10,432 km of waterways, or Belém at the mouth of the Amazon River, comprising 8,146 km of waterways. From north to south, this continental integration axis would be made up of the following rivers: in the Orinoco Basin — the Orinoco River; in the Amazon Basin — the Negro, Amazon, Madeira, Mamoré, and Guaporé Rivers; and in the Plata Basin — the Paraguay, Paraná, and Plata Rivers.
Considering the 16,886 km of border between Brazil and its South American neighbors, distributed across 7,363 km of dry line and 9,523 km of rivers, lakes, and canals as bundles of hydro-rail-road infrastructure, such a system would enable the integration of various regions of the country — and even of South America as a whole — through a network of river port cities, poles of regional development, in which it would be possible to imagine a horizon of economic, urban, political, and social development encompassing the urban and rural areas of the continent, with a view to ensuring access to urban infrastructure, housing, and public facilities on Brazil’s western border. From north to south, there are approximately 1,400,000 km² of border strip, distributed across 11 states and 588 municipalities, of which 28 are twin cities.
Taking into account the historical distance between border areas and national decision-making centers, in Latin America as a whole and in Brazil in particular, with its development axes centered on the Atlantic coast, the border issue emerges as a central protagonist in this discussion. This symposium proposes to bring together researchers, professors, and professionals interested in reflecting on the integration of the South American continent and the possibilities of inland waterway navigation with a view to regional development.
Contributions related to the following will be welcome:
Interior infrastructure projects aimed at the integration of the South American continent;
Inter-sectoral public policies, from the continental to the intra-municipal spheres;
Policies, programs, and actions motivated by an ethical and political vision that is humanistic, social, public, and collective, prioritizing border areas for investment, providing essential public services and facilities on both sides of the border.
