URGENT ACTION
 TWO Anti-Mining Activist
Murdered in one week!
Ramiro Rivera
assassinated on December 20th, 2009 and
Dora Alicia Sorto Recinos, murdered on December 26th, 2009
Dora was 8 months pregnant.
This brings the total to 3 environmentalists murdered in Cabañas |
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Mining companies from Canada and the US have their eyes on El Salvador’s rich natural resources. In El Salvador every other radio commercial is an anonymous promotion for la mineria verde or green mining. The Catholic Church, residents of areas designated to be mined, social organizations and environmentalists are resisting saying because the metallic mining pollutes the water, air, and soil with cyanide and heavy metals like lead and acidic drainage, while mining will only provide some very minor, small, short-term economic benefits. Although mining would be centralized in the northern region, it would affect the water supply for almost entire country, including the greater San Salvador area and its estimated 2.1 million residents. Unquestionably this industry is putting ‘human life at risk. In El Salvador, the water supply depends on the flow from the north regions towards the coast. The water pollution would not only affect the people in the northern zone, but the entire country. Mining is a problem for the future of this tiny and poor country.
A Brief Background
El Salvador is the smallest and most densely populated country in Central America, with over 300 people living in each square kilometer (with roughly 800 people living in each square mile). It is also a country where 96 percent of the surface water is contaminated, and where only 3 percent of the original forest cover still stands. It is for these reasons and more that the national Roundtable on Metals Mining, and other sectors of society believe that Mining projects are inappropriate for the country under current conditions. The arrival of mining companies to El Salvador in recent years has provoked tensions and conflicts between affected communities and other sectors of society.After decades of living under successive military regimes, Salvadoreans fought a 12 year civil war to overthrow a system that kept the overwhelming majority in poverty. A peace accord signed in 1992 between the government and the rebels led to the nominal establishment of a multiparty democracy. ARENA, a right wing political party that governed the country for over 20 years in the post war period, implemented an aggressive neoliberal economic agenda, including the privatization of most public services, the introduction of the US dollar as a local currency, and the signing of undemocratic trade and security deals with the US. These policies have left the country bankrupt and unable to deal with the current global economic crisis.
In March 2009, Salvadoreans elected a progressive government that is struggling to overcome twenty years of neglect and a legacy of political and economic exclusion that in the recent past led to a civil war and in the present perpetuates the forced migration of hundreds of thousands of Salvadoreans per year. These efforts, however, are continually undermined by a legislative assembly still controlled by right wing legislators who are bent on sabotaging the executive’s ability to introduce progressive reforms. In Cabañas, El Salvador, intense protests have arisen in response to mining projects. The issue with these projects comes from the costs to the environment and human health.
Health Issues
According to the World Health Organization even minimal exposure to the chemicals associated with mining can cause deadly disease. Just a few of the chemicals are cyanide, arsenic, mercury, antimony, cadmium, selenium, and thallium. Cyanide can cause respiratory problems, blood poisoning and thyroid enlargement; Arsenic causes such things as skin and lung cancer; Mercury damages the central nervous system and may also produce blindness; Antimony, cadmium, selenium, and thallium are metals used in mining that pollute the water, air and soil and enter the human body. These chemicals have been linked to human afflictions such as renal disease, liver and kidney disease, circulatory problems, and damage to the central nervous system among others. Above average incidents of these diseases have already been reported.
Environmental Issues
In terms of the environment, mining leads to water contamination and degradation of land as well as air pollution. Cyanide used for the mining, will poison El Salvador’s largest river, which is the primary source of drinking water for millions in the country. The pollution of soil, air and water will spread aggressively throughout the country due to El Salvador’s location which is prone to strong winds, hurricanes, earthquakes and other natural disasters. Mining will also displace numerous communities and ruin large tracts of adjacent agricultural land.El Salvador’s existing environmental laws will do little to protect the population from these risks, which are only increased by its small size and high population density.
Si a la Vida 09 (speaking tour)
March 15th, 2009, Salvadoreans elected a progressive president committed to revising the former government's northern development strategy and to work with civil society organizations in order to stop mineral exploration licenses. Anticipating this change of government, Pacific Rim, a Canadian corporation with mining operations in the country, launched arbitration procedures against the government of El Salvador under the Central American Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA-DR. The company is demanding multi-million dollar compensation from El Salvador for allegedly failing to fulfill its obligations under the trade agreement. If successful, this law suit will open the door for other companies that hold exploration licenses, covering over 20% of the total surface of the small country, to follow suit. (CAMES, 2009)Mr. Bernardo Belloso and Mr. Castillo, members of the Roundtable Against Mining in El Salvador, conducted a speaking tour in Canada from October 22nd to 23rd after receiving the Lettelier Moffit Human Rights award in Washington, D.C. the goal of this tour was to inform Canadians about the negative impact mining corporations are having in their country of El Salvador.
CAMES summarizes what they are hoping to achieve:
- To demand that Pacific Rim withdraw its complaint against the government El Salvador under the Central American Free Trade Agreement, CAFTA-DR.To strengthen ties with Canadian civil society and ask for continued solidarity and support for the struggle against mining in El Salvador.To ask Canadians to pressure the Canadian government to pass legislation that regulates the behaviour of Canadian mining corporation at home and abroad - Bill C-300
- To demand that all Canadian mining corporations withdraw their operations from El Salvador so that sustainable development can occur without the threat of environmental degradation.
BIOGRAPHIES OF SPEAKERS
Bernardo Belloso is the Vice President of CRIPDES (Association for Development in El Salvador). CRIPDES focuses its energy on supporting community organizing, education and political activities in rural communities of El Salvador. Bernardo has been working on the anti-mining campaign for over 4 years as a member of a coalition of organizations called the National Roundtable Against Mining. His role at CRIPDES includes support for regional and national level protests, awareness campaigns and legal actions related to mining.
William Castillo is one of the founders of the National Roundtable Against Mining in El Salvador and researcher for the Research Centre on Trade and Investment-CEICOM, an organization that conducts public education on global economic integration processes as they relate to El Salvador. Areas of research include mining, food security and water scarcity with specific focus on the impact on vulnerable populations. CEICOM’s mission is to simplify topics that are normally reserved to experts and bureaucrats and disseminate that information in through the social movements.
RCI Viva -
Canadá en Las Americas
Technical Review of the El Dorado Mine Project Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), El Salvador
219 Argyle Avenue, Suite 411
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2H4
Phone: (613) 233-6215
Email: salvaide@web.net
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