World Court denies Uruguay request to end blockades

By Staff
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THE HAGUE, Jan 23 (Reuters) The World Court today turned down a request by Uruguay to force Argentina to remove blockades on roads between the neighboring states erected by people protesting about a new Uruguayan paper mill.

The court also urged both sides to refrain from any action that would hinder a resolution of the dispute over the multimillion-dollar mill on the Uruguayan side of the river between the two countries.

''The court by 14 votes to one finds that the circumstances ... are not such as to require the exercise of its power,'' said judge Rosalyn Higgins.

''This decision ... places a responsibility on the governments of both countries to try to look for a solution in dialogue,'' said Hector Gros Espiell, representing Uruguay.

Montevideo appealed to the court last December to force Argentina to end the blockades by protesters worried about the environmental impact of the mill.

Uruguay said the demonstrations were strangling its economy and would cost it hundreds of millions of dollars in lost trade and tourism, while Argentina argued the blockades were sporadic and had not affected the new mill's construction.

The Orion plant, being built by Finnish pulp producer Metsa-Botnia, is the largest ever foreign investment in Uruguay, a country of 3.5 million people sandwiched between economic powerhouses Brazil and Argentina.

The site, directly across the river from the Argentine city of Gualeguaychu, the center of an important tourist region, has soured previously good relations between the two countries.

Demonstrators blocking the highway near Gualeguaychu celebrated the court ruling by waving Argentine flags and dancing. They vowed to keep on with their protests.

BILATERAL TREATY The case began in 2006 when Argentina took Uruguay to the World Court, properly the International Court of Justice in the Hague (ICJ), accusing it of violating a 1975 bilateral treaty by not giving enough information on the mill.

The court said on Tuesday it was not convinced the blockades risked harming the rights claimed by Uruguay under the 1975 statute and had not delayed the mill's construction.

A judgment on whether Uruguay had breached the 1975 treaty, under which all issues regarding the water of the river must be consulted on and agreed by both countries, is expected within two years, according to the court.

''This is a decision that satisfies us ... there's no proven damage done to Uruguay,'' Argentine Foreign Minister Jorge Taiana told reporters in Buenos Aires.

Uruguayan Foreign Minister Reinaldo Gargano told local radio the court's ruling was a surprise.

''The decision says it's alright for for people to sit down on deckchairs in the middle of the road and block the transit of goods, people, buses and vehicles,'' Gargano said.

''(The court) made very serious and grave statements, it said there was no damage (to Uruguay) and that sets an important precedent,'' Gargano said. But he said his country would respect the ruling.

REUTERS PDS RN0030

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