Uruguay Clings to Blockage Lifting

Mar 18
Montevideo
The Uruguayan government demanded Argentine people to remove their road blockages in Gualeguaychu, province of Entre Rios, which obstruct communications between both countries.

Argentine demonstrators took the measure because they say the cellulose factories to be constructed in the Uruguayan city of Fray Bentos, province of Rio Negro, will damage the Uruguay River.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez ratified his stance to only open talks with his neighbors if blockages in two of the three roads connecting both countries are lifted.

The Argentineans said they were infuriated over remarks by Vazquez, who termed them "picket members" and not "environment activists", as they call themselves.

Tabare Vazquez returned from a regional tour, in which he met Michelle Bachelet, Evo Morales, Hugo Chavez, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Nicanor Duarte, presidents of Chile, Bolivia, Venezuela, Brazil and Paraguay, respectively.

In that visit, he told his counterparts the cellulose factories will be equipped with the technology the European Union will call for.