MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Picketers lift roadblock but “conflict is not over”

Argentine environmentalists protesting against the building of pulp mills in Uruguay lifted late Sunday the two days roadblock of a route leading to the neighboring country but warned that new “actions” can be expected in the near future.

Impeding traffic between both countries has proved an effective form of protesting and during last summer received the passive blessing of Argentine (federal and provincial) officials in spite of reiterated protests from the Uruguayan government.

However this time the administration of President Nestor Kirchner pleaded until last moment against road-blocking and warned picketers about their responsibility in any erosion to Argentina's diplomatic strategy in the ongoing conflict with Uruguay.

Gualeguaychu residents, 250 kilometers north of Buenos Aires and just across from where Finland's Botnia in Fray Bentos, Uruguay, is building a major pulp plant, decided last Friday to resume block traffic leading to an international bridge linking both countries.

Protestors fear that the pulp mill, one of Uruguay's largest ever single private investments, almost a billion US dollars, will contaminate the water of the shared and jointly managed, since 1975, river Uruguay.

Buenos Aires alleges it was never consulted by Uruguay about the building of the pulp mills and bilateral relations have since soured. The dispute was taken by Argentina to consideration of the International Court of The Hague, and most recently Uruguay demanded the Mercosur litigation tribunal rule on the issue of compensations for the loss of trade and business because of the roadblocks.

"As long as the construction of the pulp mill goes ahead, we will continue with the roadblocks because the bilateral agreement for the joint management of the river Uruguay has not been respected", argued one of the protest leaders Daniel Perez.

However without support from the Argentine federal or provincial governments, picketers are divided over whether to once again roadblock this coming summer in the peak of the tourist season, which most hurts Uruguay, or adopt a more cautious attitude in line with Buenos Aires diplomatic strategy.

Argentina is now pointing its guns to the World Bank in an effort to block loans promised for the financing package of the pulp mills.

The change of attitude is based on the latest accumulated environmental impact assessments, released last week and contracted by the World Bank, which supposedly show pulp mills will not have negative effects on the live-hood of residents in the area of influence of the industry.

The latest bout of roadblocks was precisely triggered by the environmental reports.

"We won't stop until Botnia is knocked out. As long as the Botnia pulp mill goes ahead there's no dialogue or possible solution to the issue", said Juan Veronessi another Gualeguaychu protestor who also rejected Buenos Aires "new attitude" to the problem.

From Montevideo Uruguayan authorities warned that roadblocks by Argentine demonstrators who oppose the pulp mills project on environmental grounds will cause massive losses not only to Uruguay but to Argentina, Chile, Bolivia and Paraguay.

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano said that "Argentine public opinion must become aware (of the economic consequences of the protests) because it is not possible that action by 40 or 100 demonstrators leads to tension between our countries and to incommensurable economic losses for many people living in each country".

Uruguay claims an earlier round of demonstrations over the plant had caused the country $200m in lost tourism and trade.