MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pulp mills dispute: Argentina talks of “political solution”

Argentine Interior Minister Anibal Fernandez said on Friday there “was always an open door” to find a “political solution” to the dispute with Uruguay over the construction of two pulp mills which is currently under consideration at the Hague International Court.

"There's always an open door to search for a political or diplomatic solution" with Uruguay said Fernandez.

President Nestor Kirchner has "never distanced himself" from the possibility of reaching a bilateral agreement with his Uruguayan counterpart, Tabare Vazquez, "in this or in any other particular issue of the bilateral agenda".

Both presidents are scheduled to participate in the Mercosur summit next July 20/21 in Cordoba, Argentina, which would be the first time both leaders meet since Argentina last May appealed to the International Court.

"If we had to present ourselves before the International Court in The Hague it's because Article 60 of the River Uruguay treaty specifies that when sides can't agree, that is the procedure. But there's always a door open for a political or diplomatic solution", insisted Mr. Fernandez.

Argentina claimed in The Hague that Uruguay violated the 1975 agreement which regulates activities in the shared river Uruguay which also acts as a natural border.

Uruguay authorized the construction of the two pulp mills allegedly without having informed or consulted Argentina.

The two plants on the Uruguayan side of the border river, one from Finland and the second from Spain, represent an investment of almost 1.8 billion US dollars.

Argentina claimed in The Hague the pulp mills would cause "irreparable" damage to the region's natural environment and requested a "non innovation" clause which if accepted means construction must cease until a full accumulative impact assessment report is elaborated.

However the two plants, Botnia and Ence, are still going ahead with the project and according to the timetable are planning to begin operating and exporting October 2007.