A years-long cleanup of Argentina’s Matanza-Riachuelo River has made some progress, but green advocates fear the gains are now being reversed under President Javier Milei.
In 2006, the Argentine Supreme Court issued what was seen as a historic ruling. It ordered the cleanup of the Matanza-Riachuelo River, a heavily polluted waterway that wends its way through the industrial south of Buenos Aires Province before emptying into the River Plate. The high court recognized local residents’ rights to live in a healthy environment no longer tainted by what is widely acknowledged as one of Latin America’s most contaminated rivers. Though progress has been excruciatingly slow in the nearly 20 years since the cleanup was ordered, most stakeholders acknowledge some degree of improvement. In arguably the highest-profile stretch of the river, at its mouth in the tourist-filled La Boca neighborhood near the port of Buenos Aires, the waters are no longer choked with trash, nor as powerfully redolent of sewage and industrial waste. The concern now is that gains to date will be reversed... [Log in to read more]
