Spotlighting Sisters: St. Sebastian and Teosinte

Garden of Love Deeply Planted: St. Sebastian Parish and Teosinte

by Phelia Lorenzen, SHARE Supporter

To think that in 1991, a citywide delegation from Milwaukee to El Salvador planted the first seed for St. Sebastian Parish to partner with Teosinte — a small, isolated village high in the hills of Chalatenago.

At the time, Teosinte, a repatriated community from a refugee camp in Honduras, was only three years old. In great need. Fifty-two families, starting from scratch to farm the mountainous hills of the area, had begun a long journey to create a viable, sustainable, cohesive community. St. Sebastian people’s hearts were touched, and a strong, loving partnership began and continues to strengthen. The garden flourishes.

St. Sebastian immediately adopted the “three pillars of accompaniment” that were the guidelines of The SHARE Foundation (coordinator for sistering programs in El Salvador): physical accompaniment, spiritual accompaniment, and financial support.

Physical accompaniment takes form in many ways with St. Sebastian. They arrange regular delegations to the community so delegates can walk the garden — live in home stays with the families, play with the children, dialogue with the Directiva, taste new foods, hang out with the kids, and share mass, along with general community fiestas. At home in Milwaukee, the Teosinte/El Salvador Committee prints a quarterly newsletter for all parishioners that includes events in Teosinte and personal letters from community members and scholarship recipients. It provides information on national events in El Salvador that affect Teosinte, such as human rights, mining issues, trade issues, and elections. In advocacy, the parish devotes time to Romero week, and it embraces U.S. issues such as shutting down the School of the Americas where so many graduates murdered and disappeared Salvadorans during the hateful civil war of the 1980’s. This is an active parish, ready to walk with the residents of Teosinte on whatever level is needed. Nothing seems to diminish the nurturing of this garden.

Action Alert: Activist receives death threat

Amnesty International Action Alert

Hector Berríos, a community activist and human rights lawyer in Cabañas, a department of El Salvador, received death threats by phone on 23 January. Amnesty International believes he is being targeted for his human rights work, and is at risk.

On 23 January, at 12.20 pm Hector Berríos received a phone call on his landline from an unknown man who claimed to be a friend, and asked where Hector was. Around a minute later, the same person called Hector Berríos’ mobile phone, saying that they had been paid a lot of money to kill him, or a member of his family “Nos han pagado mucho dinero para asesinarte…ya sea a vos o a uno de tu familia”. The man continued by saying “We have been watching you in San Isidro and Mejicanos, we have got you close, look, we know you work for the people” (“…Te hemos estado observando en San Isidro y Mejicanos, te tenemos cerca, mira sabemos que trabajas para la gente…”). The caller made an offer to Hector Berríos: if Hector withdrew from his work, they would not kill him. At this point Hector Berríos put the phone down.

The previous day, on 22 January, starting at 10.00 pm Hector Berríos received ten anonymous phone calls. He has not received further calls.

Hector Berríos' activism in his community has resulted in threats and intimidation before, due to his campaigns against mining, impunity and his legal defence of human rights activists. Hector Berríos has received threats on previous occasions. On 7 October 2009, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ruled that El Salvador should provide protection to Hector Berríos. However, despite the demands from the IACHR, Hector Berríos has not yet received appropriate protection, and remains at risk.

PLEASE ACT QUICKLY. Use Spanish or your own language to create a personal appeal.

* Urge the authorities to take immediate steps to fully comply with the IACHR order of 7 October 2009. The form of protection provided to Hector Berríos must be agreed with him and reflect his own wishes.
* Call for an independent, thorough and impartial investigation into the threats against Hector Berríos, with the results made public and those responsible brought to justice.

ADDRESS YOUR MESSAGES TO:

Attorney General:

Romeo Benjamín Barahona Meléndez
Fiscal General de la República
Fiscalía General de la República
Final 4ª Calle Oriente y 19ª Avenida Sur, Residencial Primavera,
Santa Tecla, La Libertad
San Salvador, El Salvador
Fax:   011 503 2523 7409
Salutation:  Estimado Sr. Fiscal / Dear Attorney General

Human Rights Director, Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

David Morales
Director General de Derechos Humanos
Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores
Calle El Pedregal, Blvd. Cancillería
Ciudad Merliot, Antiguo Cuscatlan
El Salvador
Fax:   011 503 2231 1152
Salutation:  Estimado Director / Dear Director

AND PLEASE SEND A COPY TO

Sra Ana Coralia Mejía de Morot-Gaudry
Chargé d'Affaires, Embassy of El Salvador
209 Kent Street
Ottawa, Ontario K2P 1Z8
Fax:   (613) 238-6940
E-mail:  embajada@elsalvador-ca.org


ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Amnesty International has issued various Urgent Actions on the situation of human rights defenders in the Cabañas department of El Salvador in 2009 and 2010.

Gustavo Marcelo Rivera, an environmental activist, was killed on 30 June 2009. Later on that year, his brother Ramiro Rivera, a community leader who campaigned against mining in the area and against impunity in his brother’s case, survived an armed attack in August and was eventually killed in December.  Also in August 2009, Héctor Antonio Garcia Berríos was warned by a man he knew that if he and Gustavo Marcelo Rivera's brother, Miguel Rivera continued campaigning for justice for the murder, their lives would be at risk.  (UA 223/09 Index: AMR 29/001/2009 of 27 August 2009).

On 26 December 2009, another member of the Cabañas Environment Committee was killed. Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto, who was eight months pregnant, was shot dead, and her two-year-old child was wounded. (UA 223/09 Index: AMR 29/001/2010 Update of 4 January 2010).


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Optional action: You may wish to sign the Stop Secret Trials in Canada petition at http://www.harkatstatement.com/

If you’re between 15 and 25 and interested in attending Amnesty’s Human Rights College and Annual Meeting in Montreal from May 25-29, request the application form.
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Urgent Action Office   Amnesty International Canada
1992 Yonge St, 3rd floor   Toronto, Ontario M4S 1Z7
(416) 363 9933 ext 325   /   Fax (416) 363 3103   /   About the Urgent Action Network
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If you can't get through, EMAIL the COMMERCE GROUP TODAY!

It seems the ICSID tribunal has asked for more time before deciding about whether the Commerce Group case will move forward.  The decision will be issued this month. That is why it's important to send a clear message demanding that the company to drop the suit. 

 If you can't get through on the phone, please send email to:  info@commercegroupcorp.com. 

SAMPLE EMAIL
Hello.

My name is _______________(if you are a Milwaukee or Wisconsin resident, say so up front!) and I have been following Commerce Group's lawsuit  against the government of El Salvador.

I am calling on Ed Machulak and the Board of Directors to respect the right of the government of El Salvador to protect the environment and the health of the people near the San Sebastian mine by immediately withdrawing your lawsuit against the government of El Salvador.

It is deplorable that the government of El Salvador is under attack for protecting the health and safety of its people.   If anything, it is Commerce Group who should be paying for the toxic legacy that has been left behind

I will be telling my friends and neighbors about the damage you are causing, as well as calling on my Congressional Representatives to take action.

Thank you.

Action Alert: Call on the Commerce Group to Withdraw their Shameful Lawsuit against El Salvador!

On January 13 the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank will announce their decision about whether the lawsuit brought by the Commerce Group will proceed to the next phase.

 On JANUARY 14, 2011:

Let's send a clear message to the Commerce Group: Withdraw your shameful lawsuit against El Salvador!

On Wednesday, December 29, 2010, four members (Steve Watrous, Al Gedicks, Babette Grunow and Dan Kasun) of the Midwest Coalition Against Lethal Mining (MCALM) met with John Machulak, an attorney with Machulak, Robertson & Sodos, and brother of Commerce Group's Chairman and CEO Edward Machulak to ask him to withdraw the $100 million lawsuit against El Salvador. He refused.

As Dan Kasun observed, "It appeared obvious that the comments by John Machulak throughout the meeting either attempted to minimize culpability or prove willfully ignorant of the obvious environmental and health impact of the Commerce Group's mining operations."

At the conclusion of the meeting, we promised that if they did not withdraw the lawsuit brought against El Salvador under the foreign investor "protections" of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) that we would continue our campaign of public education and political pressure.

We need you to stand in solidarity with El Salvador's struggle against corporate extortion, neocolonialism, and environmental racism.

Please call the Commerce Group's Milwaukee office phone (414) 462-5310 on Friday, January 14, 2011 and tell them to drop the lawsuit against the government of El Salvador.

SAMPLE CALL SCRIPT:

Hello. My name is _______________(if you are a Milwaukee or Wisconsin resident, say so up front!) and I have been following Commerce Group's lawsuit  against the government of El Salvador. I am calling on Ed Machulak and the Board of Directors to respect the right of the government of El Salvador to protect the environment and the health of the people near the San Sebastian mine by immediately withdrawing your lawsuit against the government of El Salvador.

I will be telling my friends and neighbors about the damage you are causing, as well as calling on my Congressional Representatives to take action. Thank you.