MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pulp mill dispute involves the River Uruguay basin (and Brazil)

Cardoso concerned with performance of Mercosur

Former Brazilian president Fernando Enrique Cardoso said he was hopeful his country could participate in finding an understanding to the Uruguay/Argentina pulp mill dispute since this involves the River Uruguay basin.

Any solution should contemplate "development respectful of the environment" said Cardoso adding that pickets and blocking routes are a "tremendous error". Cardoso was invited to a conference on "Latinamerica, fragmentation, integration and conflict" sponsored by the German foundation Konrad Adenauer at the Uruguayan Congress building in Montevideo where he was the main speaker. Legislators from all Uruguayan political parties and diplomats were among the audience including, in the first row, two former Uruguayan presidents, Julio Maria Sanguinetti and Jorge Batlle. "We must find ways to solve conflicts. I think there's still time to work out a solution following on the New York negotiations; a window of hope" said the former president, insisting that the "River Uruguay basin is too important. We must develop it with most respect for the environment". He was hopeful that "it's very possible that sometime ahead an interesting and productive solution to end the pulp mill conflict can be found". And if the conflict had been while he was president how would he have acted? "If I was the president makes it difficult because the matter of the fact is that I'm not and the current president has information which I do not posses regarding what he did or didn't do. It's hard to give an opinion on the issue on abstract" However Cardoso did admit his personal inclination has always been that the president must help in this type of situations. It has always been a Brazilian tradition and I believe the government is prepared to help and why it did not do it with greater emphasis, I don't know. I don't want to make a statement on the issue without the necessary background because it's a delicate affair" And shouldn't an initiative be coming from Mercosur? "I guess it's something that involves Mercosur. You just have to read the treaty of Montevideo to understand that unilateral decisions on certain subjects have been made". As to pickets blocking links between Uruguay and Argentina Cardoso described them "as a tremendous error, to say the least. We're talking of brotherly countries, of neighbors that belong to the same block. Blocking a bridge that links two Mercosur country members is not in the spirit of Mercosur". Finally regarding President Kirchner's invitation for Mexico to join Mercosur, Cardoso was a bit ironic, "I don't quite understand how it would work out since Mexico already belongs to another block, Nafta, and I don't know if we all want to be part of Nafta". Cardoso described it as a friendly gesture from Kirchner to the host country, "but with no effective integration content, I don't see how it's possible and I don't think Mexico wants to leave Nafta". Finally the former Brazilian president said he was most concerned with the development and performance of Mercosur, "I want a true integration, a common space, a common production in that space as Europe has shown us. We're at the start and we must give it time, but I underline that I fully support a true regional integration".