BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Greenpeace activists calling for Uruguay to halt construction of two large pulp mills swam the Uruguay River on Monday with banners reading "Move out now!"

s More than a dozen protesters who described themselves as "human buoys" were accompanied by a Greenpeace ship bobbing just off the Argentine side of the river border with Uruguay, not far from the site of the future mills.

Argentine protesters claim the plants will pollute fertile farmlands all along the northeastern river delta between the two countries, a charge rejected by Uruguay.

In Uruguay, navy spokesman Capt. Alejandro Anon said the protesters did not enter the country's waters.

Uruguayan President Tabare Vazquez has said the pulp plants will meet international environmental standards while creating 600 jobs and boosting exports by 15 percent. The two plants are expected to reap millions of dollars (euros) in new revenue annually for this small South American nation still recovering from a deep economic crisis that hit in 2002.

Meanwhile, environmentalists and other Argentines were deciding Monday whether to lift a blockade of two international bridges between the two countries. The blockade, which opposes the same mills, has lasted more than a month.

Vazquez has demanded the blockades end before the two governments can discuss the feud. The blockades have cost Uruguay more than US$200 million (euro167 million), Vazquez told thousands of Uruguayans who rallied last week in defense of the plants.

Source: Associated Press