RIO DE JANEIRO, June 27 (BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA) -- Paraguay's change in government will not affect its energy deal with Brazil, Brazilian Mines and Energy Minister Edison Lobo said Tuesday.

According to Lobo, the Brazilian government does not fear any sort of retaliation from Paraguay in response to Brazil's criticism of the impeachment process that ousted former President Fernando Lugo last Friday and replaced him with the man that had been his vice president, Federico Franco.

Brazil and Paraguay share the Itaipu hydroelectric plant on the border between the two countries, with each country having the right to half of the plant's energy output. As Paraguay uses only five percent of its share, the excess is sold to Brazil.

The deal cannot be changed by shifting political winds in either of the two countries, Lobo said.

"The energy trade is regulated by a treaty," Lobo stressed. "It cannot be altered, except by the Congresses of the two countries. And even if there was a change in Paraguay's Congress, there would not be one in Brazil's."

Franco has said his country would continue to honor its end of the deal regarding the plant.

Itaipu is responsible for 19 percent of Brazil's energy supply and 91 percent of Paraguay's.

-- BERNAMA-NNN-XINHUA