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Argentines protest against Uruguayan pulp plant

Some 20,000 demonstrators marched to Argentina's river border with Uruguay on Saturday to protest the impending startup of a paper pulp plant in the neighboring country they fear will pollute the environment.

The peaceful protest came two days after Uruguay authorized the Finnish-built plant to begin converting eucalyptus trees into pulp, the base ingredient for paper. Uruguay says its studies show it will operate within legal pollution limits.

But the Argentine government and environmentalists object to the plant, which is located on the border river, saying soybean, citrus and other crops in Argentina are at risk of contamination.

"No to the paper plant!" read banners raised by the protesters during the march, including families on foot with babies in strollers.

A caravan of thousands of cars honked their horns noisily en route to the bridge, where Argentine police blocked them from entering the elevated two-lane crossing to Uruguay.

Protest boats also plied the Uruguay River close to the Uruguayan side as demonstrators aboard lit flares and shouted over bullhorns for the plant to be closed. Boats from the Uruguayan coast guard looked on but did not intervene.

Organizers said the number of protesters was 40,000, but a reporter estimated the size of the crowd at about 20,000.

The Finnish consortium Oy Metsa-Botnia AB and Kymmene Corp. said Friday it had begun ramping up operations for the startup of the plant, a process expected to take days.

The US$1.2 billion plant -- the biggest foreign investment project in Uruguay's history -- is intended to create 600 jobs and boost Uruguay's exports by 15 percent.
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