{"id":243588,"date":"2010-01-28T19:48:22","date_gmt":"2010-01-29T00:48:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalvoicesonline.org\/?p=119986"},"modified":"2010-01-28T19:48:22","modified_gmt":"2010-01-29T00:48:22","slug":"uruguay-president-elect-mujica-tackles-botnia-issue-before-taking-office","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/243588","title":{"rendered":"Uruguay: President-Elect Mujica Tackles Botnia Issue Before Taking Office"},"content":{"rendered":"

Uruguayan president-elect Jos\u00e9 \u201cPepe\u201d Mujica is trying to intervene in a conflict that started more than seven years ago, and which still makes headlines in Uruguayan and Argentinean Media. Since the opening of Finnish pulp mill<\/a> Botnia in Fray Bentos (Uruguay) along the Uruguay River\u2014a natural border between Argentina and Uruguay\u2014environmentalists and locals from the area and its neighboring Argentinean city Gualeguaych\u00fa have been protesting against alleged environmental and health hazards caused by the mill.<\/p>\n

\"Botnia<\/a><\/p>\n

Botnia Pulp Mill. Picture taken by Flickr user Gonzak and used under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Blogger and industrial designer Juli\u00e1n Ballesteros Riveros [es] <\/a> spent recent Carnival celebrations in Gualeguaych\u00fa where he witnessed firsthand the activism against Botnia:<\/p>\n

\n

Una bella ciudad con gente muy amable, vale la pena conocerla si se tiene la oportunidad; tiene termales, zonas para acampar y playas a lo largo de la costanera del r\u00edo Gualeguaych\u00fa. Sin embargo, aunque lo m\u00e1s atractivo resulta ser los recursos naturales de la zona, es llamativa la constante exposici\u00f3n de avisos en las casas, en los establecimientos comerciales y hasta en los autom\u00f3viles oponi\u00e9ndose al un\u00edsono a la amenaza contra el medio ambiente que supone la instalaci\u00f3n de \u201cpapeleras\u201d y de Botnia en particular en l\u00edmites con Uruguay<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

A beautiful city with very nice people, it is worth seeing if one has the chance: it has hot springs, places to camp, and beaches along the Gualeguaych\u00fa river. However, even though the most attractive things are the natural resources of the zone, the constant exposure of signs on homes, commercial establishments and even on cars opposing the environmental threat which the installation of pulp mills and Botnia in particular within Uruguay, is striking.<\/div>\n

Skepticism about the plant posing an actual environmental or health hazard opposes the claims made by environmentalists, as various organizations have denied that the mill contaminates the air. According to local news organization from Entre Rios, Agencia de Noticias de Entre Rios APFD [es] <\/em><\/a>, Marisa Arienza from Green Cross reported that the there have not been any changes in the levels of sulfur dioxide in the air since the plant began operations. <\/p>\n

Still, the strongest and most established protest came from the \u201cpiqueteros\u201d<\/a> who are discontent with the pulp mill and have used protest tactics like the takeover and blockade of bridges that act as important passage ways between the two countries for tourism and commercial purposes.<\/p>\n

\"Blockade<\/a><\/p>\n

‘I Said No!' Blockade from Fray Bentos, Uruguay and anti-Botnia slogans. Picture taken by Flickr user sebaperez and used under a Creative Commons license.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Mujica, who will not be sworn into office until March, has paid special attention to this conflict and wants the blockades lifted before he takes office. Mujica met<\/a> with Cristina Kirchner, president of Argentina, and with the governor of the Argentinean region Entre Rios, Sergio Urribarri, where Gualeguaych\u00fa is located. However, environmentalist Lilian Melnik sees no progress in these meetings, as reported by local Uruguay River newspaper Rio Uruguay Digital [es]<\/em>:<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

[Mujica y Urribarri] son \u2018traidores a una causa noble\u2019 hacia quienes \u2018defienden el levantamiento del corte sin argumentos y sin querer verdaderamente que se vaya Botnia\u2019<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

[Mujica and Urribarri] are ‘traitors in a noble cause' who ‘defend the lifting of the blockade without valid arguments and without really wanting Botnia to leave'<\/div>\n

Melnik also said that environmentalist will have to defend the blockade even harder, now that Mujica has tried to mediate.<\/p>\n

In an editorial, Ignacio de Posadas [es]<\/a> criticizes these attempts made by the president-elect to reach out to the Argentinean side:<\/p>\n

\n

El Presidente electo, por sus gestos (sobre todo la visita a los piqueteros) y por sus palabras (describiendo la violaci\u00f3n de tratados y de normas y usos, como “un asunto interno” de la Argentina), dio raz\u00f3n al gobierno Kirchner y a los patoteros de Gualeguaych\u00fa, banalizando el asunto, debilitando la posici\u00f3n jur\u00eddica y de principios del Uruguay y enviando a La Haya el peor mensaje posible (\u00bfqu\u00e9 juez se parar\u00e1 en los pedales si la parte agraviada dice que todo es negociable?).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The president-elect, with his actions (especially the visit to the \u201cpiqueteros\u201d) and with his words (describing the violation of treaties and of laws and uses as \u201cinternal affairs\u201d of Argentina) agreed with the Kirchner government and the thugs of Gualeguaych\u00fa, decreasing the seriousness of the matter, weakening the judicial position of Uruguay and its principles, and sending The Hague the worst possible message (what judge would put his foot on the break if the aggravated side says that everything is negotiable?)<\/div>\n

Shortly after taking office, Mujica will have to face the verdict from the International Court of Justice at The Hague, where Argentina issued a formal case against Uruguay in 2006<\/a>. Mujica\u2019s close relationship with Kirchner and his recent attempt to reach out to governor Urrubarru will also be tested when he becomes the official president.<\/p>\n

Argentinean journalist and blogger Pepe Eliaschev [es] <\/a> condemns the blockades as useless and contrasts Mujica\u2019s close connection to the Kirchners with the current Uruguayan president V\u00e1zquez' tumultuous relationship with the neighboring government:<\/p>\n

\n

En pocas palabras, el corte de la frontera con Uruguay no sirve para nada y es un pastiche siniestro que solo ha provocado da\u00f1o. La planta de Botnia, inaugurada hace ya dos a\u00f1os, trabaja y produce con absoluta y total normalidad, y lo hace en toda su capacidad. El corte no solo no redujo el flujo de turistas, sino que lo incremento, demostrando la pasmosa estupidez de la medida. De la famosa \u201ccontaminaci\u00f3n\u201d nada significativo ha vuelto a aportarse, mientras que en el inicio del conflicto la llamada asamblea \u201cambientalista\u201d de Gualeguaych\u00fa lleg\u00f3 a decir que la fabrica instalada en Uruguay era equivalente al Auschwitz, el campo de exterminio que los nazis instalaron en esa ciudad polaca durante la Segunda Guerra y donde fueron aniquilados centenares de miles de jud\u00edos. [\u2026] Operativo seducci\u00f3n: el viejo guerrillero quiere engullirse a la pareja presidencial argentina para que levanten el corte de la frontera. El septuagenario tupamaro imagina que podr\u00e1 extraer de los post montoneros argentinos lo que le severidad del onc\u00f3logo socialista V\u00e1zquez no pudo.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

In a few words, the blockade of the border with Uruguay doesn\u2019t serve any purpose and it is a sinister pastiche that has only caused damage. The Botnia plant, inaugurated two years ago, works and produces at absolute and total normality, and to its fullest capacity. The blockade has not only reduced the flow of tourists, it has also increased it, showing the stupidity of the measure. Of the famous \u201ccontamination\u201d nothing significant has arisen recently, while at the beginning the so called \u201cenvironmentalist\u201d assembly of Gualeguaych\u00fa said that the installed mill in Uruguay was equivalent to Auschwitz, the concentration camp that the Nazis installed in that Polish city during the Second World War and where hundred millions of jews were annihilated [\u2026] Operation seduction: the old guerrilla man [Mujica] wants to swallow the Argentenian presidential couple [(the Kirchners)] so that they lift the blockade from the border. The seventy-year old Tupamaro imagines that he can get out of the Argentinians what the severity of the socialist oncologist V\u00e1zquez could not\u201d<\/div>\n

Mujica has said he will not negotiate<\/a> with \u201cpiqueteros,\u201d and the \u201cpiqueteros\u201d in turn, say they will not take action<\/a> until the Hague pronounces its verdict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Uruguayan president-elect Jos\u00e9 \u201cPepe\u201d Mujica is trying to intervene in a conflict that started more than seven years ago, and which still makes headlines in Uruguayan and Argentinean Media. Since the opening of Finnish pulp mill Botnia in Fray Bentos (Uruguay) along the Uruguay River\u2014a natural border between Argentina and Uruguay\u2014environmentalists and locals from the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4355,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-243588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243588","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4355"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243588"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243588\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243588"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243588"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243588"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}