MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay appeals to OAS over conflict with Argentina

Uruguay will formally ask this week the Organization of American States, OAS, to intervene in the bilateral dispute with Argentina over the construction of two pulp mills on the Uruguayan side of a river which acts as a natural frontier between the neighbouring countries.

Uruguayan president Tabare Vazquez announced Tuesday he had instructed the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to send a formal request to OAS Secretary General Jose Miguel Insulza for his mediation in the conflict which is having negative effects for the Uruguayan economy and bilateral trade.

Since the conflict over the construction of the pulp mills began, pickets on the Argentine side have been blocking the access route leading to the international bridge over the river Uruguay, one of the main trade and tourism arteries of the region. Picketers claim the pulp mills will generate irreparable air and water pollution in the region.

Gualeguaychú residents and environmentalist groups are camped on the access to the bridge impeding all traffic and have convinced residents living next to another international bridge further north, Colon/Paysandu, to also organize pickets.

Argentina is threatening to take the issue to the International Court of The Hague if Uruguay does not suspend construction of the mills and Uruguay says all pickets must cease before any formal talks begin. The dispute has been inflamed even further by the fact that Argentine president Nestor Kirchner has ignored, so far, a personal letter sent by his Uruguayan counterpart Tabare Vazquez. Argentina alleges Uruguay is ignoring the fact that the river Uruguay has a bilateral shared administration and no serious environmental impact assessments regarding the project have been done.

Gualeguaychú pickets originally encouraged by governor Jorge Busti from the province of Entre Rios seem to have become autonomous in their claims and warned they will continue obstructing traffic unless the Uruguayan government orders works in the pulp mills to cease, even if formal talks between both countries are established.

Political analysts on both sides are becoming increasingly restless about the outcome of the dispute which from an "environmental/scientific" dispute (what degree of pollution is acceptable) is rapidly becoming a "nationalist" issue almost "religious" with some disagreeable incidents involving beatings and random shooting.

The two mills with an overall investment of 1.8 billion US dollars are crucial for Uruguay's development in the next twenty years. Uruguay's GDP is 16 billion US dollars.