Supported by other organizations that form the Maritime and River Trade Union Federation, SICONARA will express its discontent with the government’s decision to reform or repeal the Cabotage Law that regulates the activity of the sector, which would allow foreign crews and ships to be used to carry out local work.

“We are obliged to inform the people about the highly damaging effects of what the Government has proposed. They would put an end to the National Merchant Marine,” warns a SICONARA statement. “If this “deregulation” were carried out, Argentine ships with Argentine crews destined to supply fuel, as well as health and food supplies, would be left exclusively in foreign hands” it added.

The statement further says that Argentina would lose sovereignty, employment, and supply capacity, and the loss of foreign currency in dollars would increase due to freight abroad payments. “Our Navy was and is a fundamental axis in critical moments experienced by our nation, such as during the Malvinas Deed (1982), in which it provided services to soldiers on the Islands and suffered the greatest number of civilian casualties during the conflict (…) In addition, during the Covid-19 pandemic it maintained the necessary supplies.

The implementation of these harmful policies will result in the dismantling and disappearance of a fundamental and strategic tool for any country that prides itself on being sovereign,” SICONARA noted.

Members of the United Maritime Workers Union, the Center of River, Fishing and Coastal Maritime Captains and Officers, the Center of Naval Machinist Chiefs and Officers, and the Professional Association of Captains and Pilots will also participate in the mobilization.

jrr/llp/jha/gas