OK, I have found the problem 
There was a residual libuv.so, libuv.a, a libuv.sh and some residual links related to libuv.so in /usr/local/lib/
Where they came from is a bit of a mystery, but I deleted all libuv related entries from '/usr/local/lib/' and everything works like a charm again.
I'll leave the posts plus solution here, in case someone else runs into the same issue. 