Botnia pulp factory centre of dispute between Argentina and Uruguay

Protesters block New Year's traffic at border crossing

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By Johanna Pohjola in Gualeguaychú
     
      Planned pulp mills that are to be set up by the Finnish company Metsä-Botnia and the Spanish Ence in Fray Bentos in Uruguay are straining relations between Uruguay and Argentina.
      The dispute deepened in late December when Uruguay rejected Argentina's official request to halt construction on the factories. Uruguay, for its part, is concerned about a road blockade campaign by opponents of the factories, which is threatening transport between the countries in the coming summer season.
      In a letter of complaint sent to the government of Uruguay two weeks ago, Argentina asked that the construction of the factories be suspended until "an objective study on their environmental impact is made".
      The appeal was based on the Uruguay River treaty signed between the countries in 1975, which required that issues affecting the border river should be decided together.
     
Uruguay's response came two weeks later. The delay was a cause of anger on the Argentine side.
      In his response, Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano rejected the legal basis of Argentina's appeal, pointing to certain environmental studies which had given the factory projects a clean bill of health.
      The most recent environmental report was made public in mid-December by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank financial body, which is involved in the financing of the projects.
      However, Argentina was not happy with the report, seeing it as a preliminary, inadequate, and small-scale study. The country's government is currently preparing a response that it plans to send to the World Bank in early January.
      "The report concedes that our prevailing concerns about odours, and water quality problems, are justified. Besides, it does not address the question of how the factories affect tourism and natural resources in the area", said the Argentine government's environmental expert Raúl Estrada Oyuela after the report was made public.
      Action by residents of Gualeguaychú against the factories escalated on December 30th. A local group called Asemblea Ambiental ("Environmental Assembly") blockaded traffic at the main border bridge between the two countries for 22 hours, and 100 kilometres to the north, the border bridge connecting the towns of Colón and Paysandú was closed for the morning. Later, opponents of the factories passed out leaflets explaining their opposition to the project.
     
The protests wreaked havoc on cross-border traffic between the two countries, and forced thousands of people to change New Year plans. Heavy tractors and lorries were used to block the road.
      Protesters spent the night in tents they had put up on the edge of the road. Long lines formed on the bridges, and angry travellers had to wait for hours in temperatures of 32 degrees Celsius before crossing the border.
      The purpose of the blockade was to prevent Argentine tourists from crossing into Uruguay to spend the holiday.
      Also on the Friday before Christmas, residents of Gualeguaychú cut traffic on the bridge for 15 hours. Before that, blockades had lasted no longer than 15 minutes.
      The bridge between Gualeguaychú and Fray Bentos alone is crossed by 7,000 cars a day.
     
The Uruguayan government did all it could to try to prevent the blockades, which could potentially cause considerable harm for the country's tourism industry.
      "The roadblocks only heat up the atmosphere, as the decision to build the factories has already been made. This is a serious violation of human rights, as freedom of movement is a fundamental right", said Foreign Minister Gargano in a message to Argentina's President Néstor Kirchner.
      Uruguay's government also criticised the main figure in the anti-factory movement, Jorge Bust, the governor of the province of Entre Rios. Uruguay says that Bust is using the protests as way of increasing his personal popularity.
      As the Uruguayans see it, the real reason for Bust's sudden environmental awakening is jealousy over the fact that the factories are to be built in Uruguay, and not on his side of the border.
     
Accusations from Uruguay that the protest is motivated by political considerations are met with derision in Gualeguaychú.
      "Does somebody seriously think that we're spending 24 hours out here in this heat just for fun? This is a truly genuine concern over an environment that is important to us", insists one of the protesters, Ricardo Goméz.
      The people of Gualeguaychú are threatening Uruguay with sporadic roadblocks if their concerns are not taken seriously. Until now, at least 48 hours of warning have been given before each blockade. The protesters also felt sympathy for the blameless travellers
      "We have no alternative means. We have long wanted to have a dialogue with Uruguay, but only now are we being listened to. The Uruguayans are worried about their tourist season, but they do not understand that the factories will ruin all seasons for us", notes Gualeguaychú Mayor Daniel Irigoyen.
      "Besides, our protests are peaceful, and will remain so."
     
During the week that has heated relations between the countries, there were even comments in the Argentine and Uruguayan press about a setback in their historically problem-free relations. However, Alberto Fernández, cabinet chief of the Argentine government, denies that relations between the neighbours are in danger.
      "The pulp factories are the only matter in which there is any distance between the governments of Kirchner and Tabaré Vásquez. We will do our best to resolve the conflict. Uruguay must understand that Argentina is seriously concerned about environmental pollution . Correspondingly Argentina must understand the possibilities that the factories offer Uruguay", said Fernández in an interview with the Argentine newspaper La Nación.
      An offer to mediate in the dispute came from Argentine Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Pérez Esquivel.
     
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 2.1.2006  


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Argentines stage protest against Botnia pulp mill in Uruguay (8.12.2005)
  Transport of building material for Botnia pulp factory stopped by Argentine customs (18.11.2005)
  Argentina demands Botnia abandon their pulp mill undertaking in Uruguay (11.8.2005)
  Metsä-Botnia to build massive pulp factory in Uruguay (8.3.2005)

Links:
  Botnia Uruguay project

Helsingin Sanomat