The Struggle Against Climate Change in El Corozal

This update was originally published in our eNewsletter on Earth Day 2011.

The small 60 family community of El Corozal, where SHARE counterpart REDES has been working since 2006, is so remote and tucked away into the hills outside of Berlin, Usulután, that they still do not receive running water or electricity in the community. The school only goes up to fifth grade and with only two teachers and one principal who is also teaching classes, there are two grades of students being taught by one teacher at the same time. Given the distance to the middle school in Berlin, very few students are able to continue studying after the fifth grade. In fact, when the mayor’s office of Berlin offered to train someone from the community as a health promoter with the condition that it be someone with a high school degree, the community realized, upon searching for an eligible person, that nobody in the community had obtained a high school degree.

Press Release: Coalition Against Commerce Group Mine

60 Community organizations call on Commerce Group to drop its $100 million lawsuit against El Salvador

Milwaukee-based firm suing over decision to block its mining operations after evidence of massive water contamination

First hearing set for November 15 in Washington, DC

Milwaukee, WI,  Washington, DC:

            A coalition of Milwaukee and national organizations called on Commerce Group, a Milwaukee-based mining corporation to drop its controversial $100 million legal case against the government of El Salvador.  58 oorganizations from across the country signed a statement demanding that the case not only be dropped, but that there be cleanup of environmental damages caused by the mine and compensation to victims of mine pollution.  In 2006 the Salvadoran government revoked the company’s mining permits, following evidence that its operations were dumping highly toxic poisons into local water.  In retaliation, Commerce Group filed a demand before a World Bank trade court (the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID) demanding not only payment for its investments but also for tens of millions of dollars in what it claims are “lost profits.”  The demand is being filed under the foreign investor “protections” of the U.S.-Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA). The first hearing in the case will take place on November 15 in Washington, D.C.

           

El Salvador Lodges Complaint with the Guatemalan Government About Attack on Environmental Activists

For the second time in the last three months members of the Center of Investigations into Investment and Commerce (CEICOM), an active member of the National Roundtable against Mineral Mining, have been kidnapped, robbed and left at an abandoned farm while traveling in Guatemala. In both instances the anti-mining activists were traveling to events in Guatemala related to the Cerro Blanco mine.

The Cerro Blanco mine, owned and to be operated by a Guatemalan subsidiary of Gold Corp, is located less than 10 miles from the Salvadoran border in the Guatemalan municipality of Jutiapa. If the project is allowed to continue it poses the risk of contaminated the Guija Lake which is one of the main sources of the Lempa River. The Lempa River supplies water to 65% of El Salvador.

 

CEICOM has been a leader in forming relationships with local resistance to the mine in Guatemala. During the most recent case they were accompanied by two journalists from the Salvadoran TV station Channel 10.

Picture credit: Diario Co-Latino

Written by Angélica Cárcamo -- Translated by USESSC Staff 

 
SAN SALVADOR - Three Salvadoran environmentalists from Center of Investigations into Investment and Commerce (CEICOM) and two journalist from Channel 10 were kidnapped and later left on an abandoned farm on October 28th, while they were traveling to the capital of Guatemala. 

Hurricane Matthew Causes Heavy Rains; El Salvador Continues on Orange Alert

El Salvador continues on Yellow Alert, with the Coastal and Central Mountain zones on Orange Alert, due to heavy rains provoked by Hurricane Matthew. Rains began on Friday as Hurricane Matthew developed off the Atlantic Nicaraguan Coast and continued heavily throughout the weekend, causing torrential downpours in El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala and Nicaragua. As Matthew becomes a Tropical Depression along the Southern Mexican Coast, the National Service of Territorial Studies (SNET) projects that heavy rains will continue through Tuesday and encourages Civil Protection committees to remain on alert.

This storm comes after five months of continuous heavy rains. Soil is already saturated and flooding, mudslides, and evacuations have been common in this rainy season. Throughout the country, farmers have lost their season's crops and, in areas like the Lower Lempa River basin, communities have decided to wait until the end of the rainy season to plant. Because of heavy rains in Honduras and Guatemala, which feed into the Lempa River and its tributaries, flood risk remains high for communities along all major rivers.

According to Civil Protection, there have been 47 landslides over the weekend, causing damages to highways and bridges; one death has been reported in El Salvador; and some 900 people are currently in shelters.  According to the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), the municipality of Tecoluca, where SHARE counterpart CRIPDES San Vicente is located, is at high risk for flooding, and various municipalities in Chalatenango are at moderate risk, along with some thirty other zones of the country. As continued rains fall, risk for flooding and landslides increase.

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.

Empowered Women, Empowered Communities!

Shoveling soil is HARD! That thought ran through my head over and over again as I watched SHARE Foundation’s delegates and members of cooperatives shovel compost as the sun beat down on the tin roof that barely covered the compost soil pile. We kicked up dirt and sand and soon everyone’s brightly colored sneakers were covered with muted brown earth. I gulped down water from my water bottle and wiped sweat from my brow with my sleeve.

The group I was with was comprised of American University students and MAZON: A Jewish Response to Hunger’s staff and board members who had come to observe El Salvador’s historic elections and learn more about Salvadorans who are fighting for justice and creating real change in their communities. This group visited two cooperatives that participate in SHARE Foundation’s local development program: Los Frailes (The Friars) and the Marta Gonzalez Cattlewomen’s Cooperative (ACAMG).

Around 9AM, the SHARE delegates piled off the bus in the morning in La Bendición and were immediately greeted by a throng of excited, gregarious children. The delegates then convened with representatives from the Los Frailes in a community space, where individual farmers, both men and women, spoke about the benefits of using organic rather than chemical fertilizers and compost soil. Los Frailes participates in the Campesino a Campesino (Peasant to Peasant) Program, in which a local grassroots organization, CONFRAS, provides training on organic farming techniques and then encourages each participating cooperative to teach and train another community on what they learned. Farmers from Los Frailes spoke about the sense of empowerment they’ve gained by working together as a community in order to solve the community problem of hunger. To better illustrate their hard work to their visitors, the cooperative members took the group to a site where they were preparing compost soil. The cooperative members showed the different layers of the soil and invited the delegates to help “turn” the soil. Under the sweltering sun, the delegates took turns shoveling the compost, huffing and puffing with the effort. Rachel Ford, a freshman at American University and one of the first to volunteer to shovel the compost, stated, “I really enjoyed having the opportunity to work alongside the members of the cooperative and talk them about their experiences.” Luah Tomas, a freshman from American University, marveled at the difficult work required to make compost soil, “While I was watching some members of our group help shovel the fertilizer I thought that, for us, this is just two minutes of our lives, but for them it is their lives.” When it was time for the group to leave, we gave our new friends at the cooperative (sweaty) hugs and thanked them for sharing their time with us and teaching us about their work.

We arrived in Zamorano in time for lunch with the Marta Gonzalez Cattlewomen’s Cooperative (ACAMG), who prepared a sumptuous feast for the delegates. After the meal, the women spoke to the delegates about their cooperative’s history, their challenges, and their hopes. ACAMG began as part of a larger, co-educational organization, but the female cooperative members did not feel supported or included in the decision-making processes, so they chose to branch off in 1993 to form their own women-run, women-only cooperative. The women told the group how they struggled with members of their community, mostly men, who told them that they were selfish for choosing to leave the larger organization. However, the women moved forward with their plans of creating a women’s cattle cooperative, and to date, around 300 women participate in the cooperative. The women smiled slyly when they said that now some men have asked to join their cooperative, but they have told them that the only way that can join is if they start wearing a dress. Because of their success, the women have expanded their cooperative’s mission and have begun literacy circles to encourage women to learn how to read and write. During our visit, a delegate asked the representatives of the cooperative if they preferred any particular candidate or political party in the upcoming presidential election. Most of the women agreed that they wanted the FMLN (Farabundo Marti Front for National Liberation) party to win, but they also reminded us that they had survived seventeen years without support from the government, and they would continue their work regardless of the election results on March 15, 2009. After the women’s presentation, Heather Wolfson, MAZON’s Marketing Manager, reflected, “I was inspired by the women of the cattle cooperative. Despite facing many hardships at its inception, the cattle cooperative has changed the lives of hundreds of women. The women have used this empowerment to provide a service for the region and have given women the independence to succeed.”

At the end of our visit, the members of ACAMG invited the delegates to participate in a procession in memory of Rutilio Grande, a priest who was assassinated during El Salvador’s civil war 32 years ago. We gathered up the road along with most of the citizens of Zamorano, which included an enormous green parrot, and filed into two lines. We sang spiritual and political hymns as we processed toward Zamorano’s church, appropriately named after Rutilio Grande. I marveled at the people in the crowd, Salvadoran and American, Christian and Jewish, young and old, united in creating a new El Salvador today.

To learn more about SHARE’s local development programs, click here.

To support SHARE's projects, click here.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

A new environment towards mining

Just five years ago, the Glencairn Gold Corp. said Central America was “a top destination for mining companies” where the political situation “encourage[s] mineral exploration and mining.” Yesterday, the Global Post published this article on the changing prospects for mining companies in the region, largely due to strong anti-mining campaigns.

The Catholic Church has been vocal in the anti-mining protests that seem to be impacting the government’s stance toward mining. In Guatemala, two mining activists were murdered and a bishop received a death threat, which may have prompted the government to halt the distribution of mining permits. During this six month moratorium, the Guatemalan government will consider a new law that which would require mining companies to give 4% of the profits to the government, an increase from the current requirement of 1%.

The environmental advisor in Costa Rica similarly proposed to halt giving new mining permits, and Honduras has stopped issuing new permits while it devises a new tax structure for mining.

The changes in policy and strong opposition from the people are driving mining companies out of the area. In 2002, Canada spent $41 million on Central American mining operation, and in 2006 spent $1.6 billion. However, between 2006-2007, spending dropped 32%, reflecting the new attitude toward the region.

In El Salvador, where for a few years the Canadian company Pacific Rim has been exploring for gold, the government has officially denied them an extraction permit. While the company can now legally arbitrate under CAFTA for the rights, it is refraining to do so until the economic situation improves.

One of the biggest concerns against mining is the use of cyanide to extract the metal from the surrounding ore. Many fear that the cyanide will contaminate the water, affecting the residents and killing water animals and livestock. A recent cyanide spill at a mine in Honduras actualized these concerns.

Despite the advantage of bringing foreign investment and jobs, it seems the mining industry will be facing a lot of obstacles due to the strong resistance of the people. Indeed, Pacific Rim said that the laws and anti mining atmosphere are “undoubtedly a major deterrent to future investment in the region.”

A Guatemalan environmentalist and journalist commented on the situation: “Around the region, something very interesting is happening. The people are leading the fight against gold mining and its working.”

- Leslie O’Bray, SHARE Grassroots Education and Advocacy Intern

*Picture taken from the Global Post

Cyanide spills into a river at a mining site in Honduras

Cyanide spilled into the Lara River at a mining site in San Andrés Minas, Honduras, after a rock ruptured the tube transporting it. At 11:45 p.m. on March 19, a tractor suddenly dropped a large rock that hit a 50-60 centimeters thick tube transporting cyanide to clean the extracted metals. The puncture caused a stream of cyanide to spill out into the Lara River, resulting in the deaths of thousands of fish.

According to Minosa, the mining company, 150 gallons of the cyanide solution fell into the river, though residents fear the quantity was greater than that since the employers did not notice the spill until a few hours after it had happened.

The next morning, the district attorney in the community arrived to inspect the damage, as well as representatives from the Catholic Church, human rights organizations, and other social organizations. Findings showed that the cyanide reached 300 meters from the spill, but there was not any cyanide detectable 400 meters away.

Representatives from Minosa stated they had the spill under
control in a matter of minutes once they detected the incident. They said their employees are trained for these kinds of emergency situations according to international standards and they plan to increase their security measures to prevent a future accident.

The Lara River experienced a spill in January 2003 that similarly caused the death of a lot of fish. The Lara River is a tributary of the Higuitoque River, whose water serves 40,000 residents of Santa Rosa de Copán.

Accidents like this one are one of the main concerns for having mining in El Salvador. Consequently, there has been a strong Salvadoran community effort against mining, supported by the Archbishop of San Salvador,Don Hugo Barrera . The contamination of water, one of many byproducts of mining, threatens agricultural production, fisheries, livestock, and people.

- Leslie O'Bray, SHARE Grassroots Education and Advocacy Intern

Pacific Rim freezes study on mining in El Dorado

Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Company announced on February 11 that it will defer completion of its feasibility study for mining in El Dorado. The volatility of costs (both fuel and steel prices are down, meaning current capital prices appear artificially low) does not currently provide an accurate estimate on commodity prices and capital equipment.

CEO Tom Shrake said, “We see no need to spend precious capital to complete a study with an already invalid cost basis. We will wait for clarity on the timing of our permit and stabilization of the prices for capital and operating inputs.”

On December 9, 2008, Pacific Rim filed a Notice of Intent against the Salvadoran government, claiming that failing to grant an extraction permit violated investor rights under CAFTA-DR. It has received much resistance because of the serious health and environmental implications mining has on communities including the prospect of dislocation. The Salvadoran Government and Pacific Rim have until March 9, 2009 to settle the dispute amicably before Pacific Rim has the right to bring the issue before a third party.

To read the article in Mining Weekly, click here.

To read more about the background of the issue, see SHARE’s E-newsletter.

-Leslie O'Bray, Grassroots Education and Advocacy Intern

El Salvador Responds to Pacific Rim's Legal Action

In response to Pacific Rim Mining Company's December 9 announcment of filing a Notice of Intent (NOI) to arbitrate against the Salvadoran government under CAFTA for failing to grant mining exploitation permits, notable figures in Salvadoran civic and religious society have taken a stand against the mining company. On December 14 after a mass in the metropolitan cathedral, the Archbishop of San Salvador, Fernando Sáenz Lacalle criticized Pacific Rim, "It is not right to risk the health of the people and damage the environment so that a few who do not live here can take 97% of the juicy earnings but they leave us with 100% of the cyanide." His statement is consistent with those made by the participants of the Conference of Roman Catholic Bishops in El Salvador in 2007, where the Bishops released a statement of opposition to gold and silver mining in El Salvador.

The Mesa de Minería, the Salvadoran national coalition of anti-mining groups, issued a press release following Pacific Rim's announcement. The Mesa urged people from all sectors of Salvadoran society to protest Pacific Rim Mining Company. The Mesa also promoted its most recent campaign, "I Reject Metallic Mining: Sign the Citizen's Letter," which demands that the Salvadoran president, Antonio Saca, not approve mining projects and calls for the Legislative Assembly endorse a law the prohibits metallic mining.

Click here to visit the Mesa de Minería's website and sign the Citizen's Letter against mining.

- Sara Skinner, SHARE Foundation

El Salvador Declared One of the Most Polluted Countries in the Region

The World Bank released a report documenting climate change yesterday that warned El Salvador of future, and more frequent, tropical storms and hurricanes. The World Bank predicts that by 2025, the amount of damages due to tropical storms and hurricanes will quadruple. The predicted damages include in increase in disaster-related illnesses, such as malaria and dengue fever, and deaths.

The World Bank gave some hope by pointing out that these climate change effects are still preventable, but El Salvador must address its grave pollution problem. The report cited El Salvador as one of the most polluted countries in the region. Researchers found that greenhouse gas emissions rose by 14% in El Salvador between 1990 and 2000, in comparison to the 0.6% increase in the rest of Central America. Gases from energy production and consumption rose by 136% in the same time period in El Salvador, in comparison to 40% in the rest of the region.

The World Bank's chief economist, Augusto de la Torre, urged municipal governments to invest in clean energy, hydroelectric energy, reforestation, more eneregy-efficient transportation systems, and fewer pollutants.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Pacific Rim Filed a Notice of Intent to Seek CAFTA Arbitration

Pacific Rim Mining Corporation announced his morning that it has filed a Notice of Intent to seek CAFTA (Central American Free Trade Agreement) arbitration against the Salvadoran government for prohibiting the company to mine in El Salvador. Pacific Rim says that the Salvadoran government's failure to issue exploration and exploitation permits to the company has cost the company significant financial losses. Pacific Rim argues that because it has invested over $75 million in El Salvador, the company is entitled to the mining permits.

Tom Shrake, President and CEO of Pacific Rim stated, "It is with deep regreat that we must now pursue our legal rights through the initiation of a CAFTA action and we intend to pursue these rights vigorously. He also added, "Sadly, it is not just Pacific Rim whose rights are being compromised, but the rights of all Salvadoran and foreign investors. Local communities and social and environmental agencies are being denied the benefits of our community programs."

The Salvadoran government and Pacific Rim have 90 days after the filing of the NOI to resolve the matter under CAFTA rules.

CONFERENCE CALL

Pacific Rim is hosting a conference call TODAY to discuss the details of their action. The conference call starts at 11:00 am (EST) and is open to all interested parties. For those who missed the call, a replay will be available from 3 hours after its original completion until December 16, 2008. For those calling from the US or Canada, call toll-free 1-800-406-7325. For those calling from other countries, call 1-303-590-3030. The access code to listen is 3952530.

Click here to read the full article.

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Note - Pacific Rim's announcement comes just days after dozens of Salvadorans staged Pacific Rim's "funeral" in San Salvador. Check out the article from the Institute for Policy Studies.

- Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Congressional Candidates in El Salvador Will Allow Mining

Future lawmakers are willing to facilitate mining in the country, but with certain conditions that will prevent contamination.

With the joke that if a congressman found gold under his house he would vote in favor of a law to allow him to excavate all the metal, invitees to the debates of congressional candidates for the central zone made it clear that they are in agreement to regulate mining, which has been an important topic due to the interest by several companies in digging on Salvadoran soil.

Mario Valiente of ARENA, Benito Lara of FMLN, Ciro Cruz Zepeda of PCN, and Medardo Hernandez of PDC are all seeking San Salvador seat and they all say that they will support a mining law.

The country already has a mining law which is very old, hence lawmakers want to update it. There is even a special commission in the Assembly to study the preliminary project presented by the PCN, but there have not been any major progress.

Click here for the original article in Spanish.

- Posted by Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator

Video on Metallic Mineral Mining in ES

Click on the link below to watch a video on metallic mineral mining in El Salvador. The video also includes an interview with Marcos Orellana, a Chilean lawyer who specializes in environmental law and international treaties. To view the video, click here.

*This video is in Spanish.

-Sara Skinner, US Grassroots Coordinator