MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Argentina offered end of pickets for delay in opening pulp mill

Uruguay rejected an Argentine proposal for a truce in the pulp mills conflict during the recent two days technical meeting held earlier this week in New York under the “dialogue facilitating efforts” of the Spanish Crown.

Finland investors have almost finished constructing a pulp mill along the shared river Uruguay, expected to have an annual production of a million tons, but which Argentina objects on "legitimacy" and environmental arguments. The acrimonious dispute is under consideration by the International Court of The Hague, Mercosur Disputes Tribunal, plus the "dialogue facilitating" efforts of King Juan Carlos who has instructed one of Spain's top diplomats to help with the issue. According to Uruguayan media reports the Kirchner administration representatives during the New York meeting, suggested postponing the opening of the Botnia pulp plant, scheduled for next month, in exchange for the lifting of the pickets that for over a year and a half have been blocking international bridges linking the neighboring countries. The "truce" would last until the end of October when Argentina is holding presidential elections and then negotiations would return to their normal course with the promise of a quick solution, so far elusive, to the dispute. Apparently Kirchner administration political strategists fear that the inauguration of the Botnia pulp mill in mid September or early October would not necessarily have a positive impact for candidate Mrs. Cristina Kirchner's presidential bid particularly since her husband's administration has been most tolerant, --and identified--, with the pickets obstructing trade and people circulation between the neighboring countries. Uruguay which all along has argued that no negotiations are possible, as opposed to dialogue, until the pickets are definitively lifted rejected the Argentine suggestion. In related news a Uruguayan shipyard delivered the first of four barges for the fluvial transport of Botnia's pulp. The significance of the event was underlined by the presence of Vice President Rodolfo Nin Novoa plus the ministers of Labor, Industry and Energy, and Housing and Environment. "The pulp industry in Uruguay is based on a long term forestry development policy which has created jobs and business opportunities", said Labor minister Eduardo Bonomi who added that the new industry will help boost fluvial navigation, harbors' infrastructure, communications, railways "and many other subsidiary sectors". Former Uruguayan president Jorge Batlle and one of the great sponsors of forestry and the pulp industry forecasted that the Botnia plant, Uruguay's largest private single investment ever (over 1.2 billion US dollars), "will most probably be opened in mid September". "The opening of the Botnia plant will help solve the conflict (with Argentina) because it will show that there are no pollution risks", underlined Batlle. The former president added that world demand for paper and pulp keeps expanding and production in the southern hemisphere is cheaper than in the north, "so even when Argentina seems to oppose the industry currently, she will eventually fall in also and gradually change her opinion about pulp mills".