MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Pulp mill dispute: on the road to a happy ending

In spite of Argentine pickets Uruguay is environmental friendly

Uruguayan and Argentine delegates will be meeting next Saturday in New York to consider the pulp mills controversy, confirmed the Spanish Foreign Office which is acting as a “facilitator” to help find a way out to the dispute that has strained bilateral relations between the neighboring countries.

The Uruguayan delegation will be headed by Foreign Affairs minister Reinaldo Gargano and the presidential envoy Gonzalo Fernandez and the Argentine counterpart by Minister Jorge Taiana and cabinet chief Alberto Fernandez. Spain will be represented by Foreign Affairs minister Miguel Angel Moratinos and the Spanish "facilitator" and ambassador to United Nations Juan Antonio Yañez Barnuevo who was personally committed by the King of Spain to find a (face saving) way out for the dispute over the construction in Uruguay of a pulp mill on the shared waters of the River Uruguay which acts as a natural boundary with Argentina. The meeting on the sidelines of the United Nations annual General Assembly "takes place in the framework of the process initiated with the April 20, 2007, Declaration of Madrid geared to solve in a friendly manner, promoting dialogue, the differences", between both countries reads the official release from the Spanish Foreign Office. Uruguay and Argentina have been involved in a growingly acrimonious dispute over the construction of a 1.5 billion US dollars pulp mill on the River Uruguay by the Finnish company Botnia, which Argentina alleges was decided contrary to existing treaties regulating the use of shared waters and potentially highly contaminating. Uruguay and Argentina have an agreement dating back to 1975 which regulates the joint management of the waterway and the President Nestor Kirchner administration claims it was not conveniently informed of the pulp mill project and also questions the environmental impact. Residents of the Argentine side from where the Botnia-Orion plant is located have been protesting for almost two years with pickets blocking bridges leading to Uruguay arguing the plant will pollute the water and air of the region plus destroy their tourism industry. The Kirchner administration at first passively sponsored the pickets and protests from Gualeguaychu residents, causing much harm to Uruguay's economy, and has since lost control of the situation. Picketers demand a relocation of the plant, --which is ready to begin full production--, and Uruguay all along said that no "negotiations" were possible as long as the bridges remained blocked. Spain's "facilitating" efforts helped find a way out and apparently the understanding reached will mean a "green area" for the region, with joint environment monitoring between the neighboring countries and Uruguay's promise of no further pulp mills along the river Uruguay. Another consideration is that the official inauguration of the plant will take place some time after Argentina's October 28 presidential election and possibly in mid November following the Chile Ibero-American summit where King Juan Carlos hopes to be crowned with the success of his facilitating efforts. Not a word has been said about the pickets but it is understood that the Kirchner or the Mrs Kirchner administration will clear the bridges on time for Uruguay's summer season when thousands of Argentines flock to Uruguayan Atlantic beaches. As to the environmental controversy, Uruguay's position has been reinforced by the Readers Digest "greenest" world ranking where it figures among the top ten of 141 countries and well ahead of all other Latinamerican countries. Furthermore the top environmental expert in the Argentine Foreign Affairs minister and a member of the Botnia dispute negotiating team, Raul Estrada Oyuela was sacked after publicly stating that Argentina "has no environmental policy", adding that the country "rapidly needs to adapt to world climate change conditions and debate". Although the removal can be more attributed to infighting in the Argentine cabinet (ahead of the October 28 election) it is significant because Estrada Oyuela proved to be a more efficient and effective negotiator than Environmental Minister Romina Picolotti who survives him. Estrada Oyuela sin was to publicly confess he ignored what Argentina's position was regarding the UN Climate Change Forum which President Kirchner was scheduled to address this Monday and admitting that in the Botnia controversy "another course of action should have been adopted". The head of the Environmental Affairs Office added that "any pulp mill activity is contaminating, what really matters is to what extent, and that information we do not have". Interviewed by the Buenos Aires press Estrada Oyuela said his criticism was "global" not specific and directed to "political leaders and political parties, because there are failings both at federal and provincial levels". "We have no environmental active policies, only isolated reactions which are insufficient. No initiatives", he concluded saying that as a civil servant in the Foreign Office he was certain that Minister Jorge Taiana, a close friend of his, will relocate him in another job.