Uruguay has accused Argentina of turning a blind eye to protests over a planned pulp mill on the Uruguay River near their border which are "strangling" the economy. The protests at three international bridges were aimed at "forcing an end to construction", said Uruguayan ambassador Hector Gros Espiell ice at the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Argentina maintains the mill will pollute the river and in July, the ICJ threw out Argentina's request to have the work stopped pending a final court ruling. Last month, the World Bank approved more than $500 million in loans for the project, after a study found the plant met its environmental standards. "There is no legitimate excuse which can justify the omission of the Argentine government in its duty to prevent the blockade," the ambassador told the ICJ hearing. The wave of Argentine protests against the project has already caused Ence, the Spanish company that was developing a second pulp mill for the site, to relocate its project elsewhere in Uruguay.

Mike Corder, AP, Business Week
Do you feel that Argentina must live up to its international obligations and put an end to disruptive protests over the proposed pulp mill in the face of support for the project by the World Bank and the ICJ, depite its vigorous contention that the mill will irreversibly pollute its territory?