Wednesday, May 13, 2009

CESTA rejects Pacific Rim's lawsuit

The Diario CoLatino reports that the Salvadoran Center for Appropriate Technology (CESTA), a Salvadoran member of Friends of the Earth International, called Pacific Rim Mining Company's lawsuit against the country an "injustice." CESTA's President, Ricardo Navarro, stated that Pacific Rim's legal action is an effect of the flaw of the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Navarro pleaded, "I urge the Legislative Assembly to establish a lay that prohibits metallic mining, then, we should review and analyze Association Agreement of the European Union and Central America (AdA) which is more of the same, and finally, President-elect Mauricio Funes should make revisions to these economic treaties without fear." Touching on the insecurity that many Salvadorans feel regarding the outcome of the lawsuit, Navarro stated, "We could lose the cause, because it's an international tribunal and we don't know if it's impartial or if it has corporate leadership, we do not know who they are because it is a closed process, but we should continue fighting and remove Pacific Rim from the country."

To read the full article, click here. To learn more about Pacific Rim's lawsuit, click here.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

*Photo from The Ecologist.

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