Argentine protesters block bridge crossings to Uruguay in paper plant feud

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The Associated Press
Published: January 31, 2007

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina: Hundreds of demonstrators blockaded for five hours Wednesday the last of three Argentine bridge crossings to Uruguay, sealing all major land routes in an environmental protest against a wood-pulp plant rising on Uruguay's side of the border.

The protesters closed the crossing at Concordia, Argentina, one of the only routes that had remained open during months of sporadic bridge blockades that have halted traffic at two crossings further downstream on the Uruguay River.

The Concordia protesters lifted their blockade late Wednesday but vowed they would return if the pulp plant project is not suspended. The protest created a rare moment when all bridge routes between the two South American countries were blocked simultaneously and came as vacationers, including many Argentines, were traveling in the southern hemisphere summer to and from Uruguay's beach resorts.

The demonstrators say Uruguay's pulp mills will cause lasting environmental damage and undermine tourism in a pristine region of soybean and citrus-farming plantations. But Uruguay said its studies show there will be no such damage and pollutants will be kept within legal limits ...

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/02/01/america/LA-GEN-Argentina-Blockading-Uruguay.php

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1. Spanish king’s envoy announces Madrid venue for pulp mill summit.

Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos yesterday announced that Argentina and Uruguay have agreed to hold a meeting in Spain in an attempt to solve their dispute over a Uruguayan pulp mill that Argentina claims will harm its environment and that has taken them to the World Court in The Hague ...

Argentina and Uruguay went to the World Court over a pulp mill that Finnish company Botnia is building in Uruguay and that Argentina claims will affect its environment, a claim that Uruguay dismisses.

The World Court in January turned down a Uruguayan request aimed at forcing Argentina to remove roadblocks that Argentine demonstrators have been staging sporadically for more than a year to protest against the plant.

The demonstrators today plan to block the three land crossings between the two nations from 5pm to 10pm ...

http://www.buenosairesherald.com/argentina/note.jsp?idContent=354089&hideIntro=true