MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentine protestors to block dredging of the River Uruguay

Busti grants funds to protesters to continue pickets

The pulp mills dispute between Argentina and Uruguay has scaled another step following environmentalists' decision to block all dredging along the river Uruguay which is the vital access waterway for the Botnia plant.

The standing assembly of Gualeguaychu, the Argentine city just across from where the Botnia pulp mill next to Fray Bentos, Uruguay, is almost ready to begin production, voted to name a permanent delegation to lobby and monitor the River Uruguay Administrative Commission, CARU which jointly manages the common waterway that acts as a natural border between the neighboring countries. "We're going to make sure CARU approves no decision regarding the dredging of the river Uruguay, which would facilitate access to Botnia's port", said Jose Pouler coordinator of the standing Gualeguaychu assembly who nevertheless admitted that for years the city had been asking for a deeper river to help boost trade along the ports of the Argentine province of Entre Rios. "This is war, so we are prepared to cut supplies to our enemy", underlined Pouler. He added he was also surprised to hear that the locks of a joint (Argentine-Uruguayan) dam up north the river Uruguay, Salto Grande, would be opened to allow through barges with logs from the Argentine northern provinces of Corrientes and Misiones to supply the Botnia-Orion pulp mill. "We will also attack those plans. We have been granted funds from the provincial government of Entre Rios to finance a delegation to keep track of CARU, which decides on all these issues", revealed Pouler. The financing equivalent to 6.600 US dollars per month was announced by outgoing Entre Rios governor Jorge Busti who also has ready for his signature a local decree banning the sale of logs to Uruguay. "There's nothing exceptional about those funds. They were generated by tourism which is our city's main industry and it's only natural that some of that money is returned to us to lobby for the conservation of the environment", argued Pouler when asked about the provincial funding. He did complain that the central government in Buenos Aires had never supported Gualeguaychu protestors. Mr. Pouler also announced that the Standing Commission has invited Chemistry Nobel Prize Mario Molina from Mexico to give a lecture on environmental pollution next August in Gualeguaychu, when he visits Argentina. Apparently Mr. Molina is critical of pulp mills using chlorine bleaching. Uruguayan Foreign Affairs minister Reinaldo Gargano said he was "stunned" when he heard about Governor's Busti contribution, but added that "we've learnt that we should not feel scared about the inventiveness from our Argentine brothers". However Jaime Igorra, Environment Under Secretary said the conflict had ceased to be about alleged pollution and the environment, and is directly linked to the healthy business-investment atmosphere in Uruguay and the centuries long dispute between the ports of Montevideo and Buenos Aires and influence over the River Plate. "It's obvious that the closure of bridges linking Uruguay and Argentina conspires against regional trade and the ports' logistics policy of Uruguay which is based on developing Montevideo and Nueva Palmira among other River Plate terminals", indicated Igorra. Since Spanish colonial times, Montevideo and Buenos Aires have disputed port predominance of the River Plate which dominates the heartland of South America through the rivers Parana and Uruguay. Montevideo's bay and natural protection plus deeper waters have always been superior to Buenos Aires port conditions that need constant dredging of access channels. It's a non written long standing Argentine policy to consistently question any Uruguayan plans or initiatives to improve port conditions and access to Montevideo