Finnish and Spanish Paper Mills Generate Tension in Latin America

The following was originally written in Spanish by Javier from Gualeguaychú, Argentina.

The last few months have seen an escalation in tension between Argentina and Uruguay due to the construction of cellulose plants whose by-products will flow into a shared river.

The plants in question are the Spanish-owned Ence and the Finnish-owned Botnia; multinationals that have caused environmental disasters like what happened in Pontevedra, Spain.

The conflict has provoked everything from insults between technicians to the blockage of border passages on the part of Argentine citizens. And the politicians have not found the way – perhaps due to incapacity or negligence – to find a balance between the demands of a clean environment and the necessities of investment and work.

This subject has generated, in both countries, voices defending one or another position. And obviously, blogs also take part in the debate.

There are even some blogs that have been created purely and exclusively to discuss the conflict, which all of their posts focus on. Some examples:

And there are also hundreds of blogs that have written interesting posts on the subject:

“Paper Mills: The need to end this adolescent game” (ES) by Citizen Journalist
“Gesture by Tabaré over the paper mills and Busti tries to end blockades” (ES) by The Recent News
“Paper Mills: an unusual conflict between brothers” (ES) by South America at a Click
“Mafalda and the ‘Argentine paper mills'” (ES) by Bustismos
“Discussion 14: Paper mills, yes or no?” by Byzantine Discussions

Not only was there extensive journalistic coverage by traditional media and blogs, it also came at an artistic level. Fernanda Rubio, of the blog El Mirador (ES) uploaded more than 30 songs that are circulating in defense of one or another position in her post “Duel of songs” (ES).