ARGENTINA: PULP MILL PROTESTS UPDATE

C O N F I D E N T I A L BUENOS AIRES 000057

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/12/2017
TAGS: PGOV PREL ASEC AR
SUBJECT: ARGENTINA: PULP MILL PROTESTS UPDATE

Classified By: Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne for Reasons 1.4(b) and (d).


1. (U) SUMMARY: A group of Argentine pulp mill protesters
(asambleistas),piqueteros, and various other leftist groups
demonstrated January 12 in Buenos Aires for the first time
against the paper mill under construction by Finnish firm
Botnia in neighboring Uruguay. Some of the demonstrators
marched to the Port Terminal in Buenos Aires, shouting
demands that President Kirchner call for the relocation of
the plant. Though the planned blockage of ferry service was
not effective, protesters claim they will continue to
demonstrate in Buenos Aires until the situation is resolved
and plan to block for an undetermined period three bridges
along routes into Uruguay beginning tQ afternoon of January

12. END SUMMARY.


2. (U) Argentine protesters against the construction of
pulp mills on the Uruguay shore of the Rio Uruguay, who have
periodically blocked road and bridge access to Uruguay over
the past three years, have widened their protests in recent
weeks to include Buenos Aires and have recruited other
protest groups to join their cause. On January 12, they
announced plans to block the departure of all ferry boats
from Buenos Aires to Uruguay, with threats of thousands of
demonstrators. Local police in Puerto Madero, where the
ferry terminal is located, estimate the number of protesters
on January 12 between five and six hundred, while the
organizers place the number of participants as high as 2000.
Despite heightened security, no altercations with
demonstrators occurred, and tourists wishing to travel to
Uruguay on the Buquebus ferry service met no resistance
during today's protests. Claudio Merelas, spokesperson for
Buquebus, reported in the press that all ferries left
according to schedule, and Minister of the Interior Anibal
Fernandez assured the press that alternative routes available
to travelers will allow them to arrive at their destinations
without complication.


3. (U) The protesters claim that they will continue to
demonstrate in Buenos Aires until the situation is resolved
and reaffirmed January 12 in the press plans to blocks three
bridges Gualeguaychu Colon, and Concordia) along routes into
Uruguay the same afternoon. A demonstration is also planned
on the General San Martin international bridge connecting
Gualeguaychu and Fray Bentos, Uruguay. Local assemblies in
Colon and Concordia plan to meet today to better define the
nature and extent of future blockades, which have been raised
off and on for over three years.


5. (U) The numbers of protesters now involved with the
blocking of the Buquebus ferry terminals and the
international bridges and land routes into Uruguay indicate
that the asembleistas are being supplemented by leftist
protester groups in Argentina, as press reports said. The
groups who have so far publicly agreed to help block the
Buquebus are: piquetero group Polo Obrero run by Nestor
Pitrola, students from the University of Buenos Aires
Federation (FUBA),the communist piquetero group Classist and
Combative Current (CCC) run by Juan Carlos Alderet, and the
communist group United Left (Izquierda Unida) run by Vilma
Ripoll.


6. (C) COMMENT: Although the recent protests have not
resulted in a major inconvenience, this is the first time
that the asembleistas have tried to bring their protests to
the capital. The protests have remained nonviolent so far,
but concerns are beginning to be raised about their
persistent and increasingly confQtational nature. The
addition of leftist piquetero groups, some of which have
resorted to violence in the past, also suggests that the tone
of the protests could change suddenly and without warning.
The Finnish Embassy is reviewing security measures to address
the issue of potential demonstrations. Pulp mill protests in
Buenos Aires could turn out to be a new long-term issue in
the capital, especially with the assistance of FUBA, who
successfully prevented the election of a new rector and
hampered normal activity at the largest university in the
country for eight months. END COMMENT.
WAYNE