The governor addressed the claims made by the province of La Rioja regarding interprovincial boundaries and the jurisdiction of the Vicuña Project, reaffirming the San Juan government’s position on the validity of the current legal framework.
“We will always defend San Juan and its people, with the law in hand, against any kind of attack. The boundary between San Juan and La Rioja was established by National Law 18,004, enacted by the National Congress. It is a law, not an agreement between officials. It remains fully in force and has been applied uninterruptedly for more than half a century, across all democratic governments.”
The governor emphasized that San Juan’s jurisdiction over the deposit is “clear, legal, and recognized,” and stressed that natural resources located within provincial territory belong exclusively to the Province of San Juan, in accordance with Article 124 of the National Constitution.
“There is no law in Argentina that obliges one province to share royalties from its resources with another. What lies in San Juan’s subsoil belongs to the people of San Juan. And we will defend it with the law in hand, not through statements in the media.”
Orrego called for any differences to be addressed through institutional channels: “San Juan is a province of dialogue and work. We have the utmost respect for La Rioja. But one thing is institutional dialogue, and another is opening debates that have no legal basis. The law is the law, and provinces do not shift their position through public statements.”
