CABANAS, EL SALVADOR:
“LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN GOLD, SAY ANTI-MINING ACTIVISTS”

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Another Canadian Mining Company, Another Conflict
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In 2007, Rights Action made a grant to the Environmental Committee of Cabanas in Defense of Water and Culture (Comité Ambiental de Cabañas en Defensa del Agua y la Cultura), working to defend community human rights and the environment from harms caused by the global mining industry.

BELOW:

* an IPS article about the people’s resistance to the mining aggression of the Canadian mining company Pacific Rim
* a Diariocolatino.com article, en espanol, about legal charges against community leaders who are defending their rights and environment.

To get on-off this elist: info@rightsaction.org.  WHAT TO DO: see below.

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LIFE IS WORTH MORE THAN GOLD, SAY ANTI-MINING ACTIVISTS
By Raúl Gutiérrez, Inter Press Service, Friday 01 February 2008

San Isidro, El Salvador - Peasant farmers from the northern Salvadoran province of Cabañas fear that mining operations planned for the region will consume 30,000 litres of water a day, drawn from the same sources that currently provide local residents with water only once a week.

Environmentalists and experts have also warned that if the operations that are now awaiting legal permission actually begin, the cyanide that would be used by the Canadian mining company Pacific Rim to extract gold and silver could contaminate the area's groundwater and soil.

Cabañas ranks second only to Morazán as the province with the highest rate of poverty in this country, where over 55 percent of the population officially lives under the poverty line. According to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), it has the worst score on the Human Development Index, a composite measure that takes into account school enrolment, life expectancy and per capita income.

Miguel Fuentes, a 43-year-old campesino (peasant farmer), has spent his whole life on a quarter-hectare plot of land where he grows corn and beans and lives with his wife and four children in a dirt-floor house made of sheet metal, adobe and wood.

Two years ago, he travelled to Valle de Siria, in neighbouring Honduras, where he saw for himself the pollution and respiratory and skin ailments suffered by the people living in the vicinity of the Entre Mares mine, 120 km from Tegucigalpa.

"Mining is not advisable in such a small and overpopulated area," Fuentes told IPS, especially since "nobody takes responsibility afterwards for the damage it leaves behind."

The El Dorado mine project that Pacific Rim plans to undertake near the community of San Isidro, 65 km from San Salvador, is just one of 25 potential mining sites currently under exploration along the northern fringe of the country, stretching along a volcanic chain rich in precious metals.

The mining permits granted by the Ministry of the Economy and the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources have been suspended due to opposition to the projects and because the Ministry of the Environment must carry out a strategic environmental study on mining as a prerequisite for the adoption of a new regulatory regime by parliament.

In El Salvador, a country of 20,000 square km with a population of 5.9 million, the data available show that mining activity has historically been sporadic.  Records show that in the late 19th century, a handful of projects were undertaken but had practically disappeared in later years. They were revived in 1940 but had almost all been abandoned by the 1950s.

Mining has never been a significant economic activity here, and according to figures from El Salvador's Reserve Bank, in 2006 the mining industry contributed just 32.7 million dollars (including stone products) to the country's total gross domestic product of over 18.6 billion dollars.

Between 1948 and 1953, the New York-El Salvador Mining Company worked the El Dorado mine but pulled out, according to environmentalists, because the technology available at the time did not allow for the extraction of the gold and silver that have now been located by Pacific Rim.

El Dorado covers 144 square kilometres. The exploration phase that concluded in 2006 and involved an investment of 28 million dollars uncovered deposits of at least 1.2 million ounces of gold and 7.4 million ounces of silver.

Luis Trejo, an environmental advisor to Pacific Rim, told IPS that at current world prices, each ounce of gold could fetch 700 dollars.  He also maintained that the company would create 2,000 direct and indirect jobs and would pay the Salvadoran government at least three percent in taxes on its gross sales.

In 2007, the mining company launched a major advertising campaign using radio and vehicles with loudspeakers that drove through nearby communities to promote so-called "green mining" while handing out school supplies, fertilisers and livestock vaccines.

Trejo acknowledged that "cyanide is a hazardous substance," but said that the human body is able to "assimilate" it, since it occurs in natural form in foods like cassava, grapes and almonds.

In October 2005, U.S. hydrogeologist Robert Moran conducted a technical review of the El Dorado Mine Project Environmental Impact Assessment submitted by Pacific Rim. Moran was critical of the company's report, charging that it did not provide the necessary data to determine the effects of mining on water resources.

According to his review, neither the general public nor the Salvadoran regulators have been adequately informed regarding the possible environmental or socioeconomic impacts to the local populations.

Moran, who has carried out similar studies in other countries of Central America, also said that a large percentage of similar, modern gold mining operations throughout the world do generate negative environmental impacts, which often do not become visible until after a mine closes.

Francisco Pineda, coordinator of the Association of Friends of San Isidro-Cabañas, said that cyanide and acid drainage from the mining operations would contaminate the same sources of water used to supply the majority of communities in the region.

"We are not opposed to the activity, but rather to the harm it causes," stressed the environmentalist, who added that in any case, "green mining doesn't exist, it's merely a publicity campaign."

The Salvadoran Bishops' Conference has joined the opposition to the mining project. In a statement released in May 2007, it warned that "mining causes irreversible damage to the environment and surrounding communities."

Residents of the community of San Sebastián, in the eastern province of La Unión, sued the Commerce Group mining company in 2007 for the pollution of numerous local rivers with iron, copper and aluminum, products of acid drainage allegedly caused by the exploitation of a nearby mine between 1950 and 1981.

Lourdes Palacios, a lawmaker from the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), has charged that Pacific Rim "negotiated" with the right-wing National Conciliation Party (PCN) to introduce a bill in parliament that would create an independent authority to regulate mining, stripping the ministries of this power. "The PCN initiative is nothing other than a law drafted by the mining companies," declared Palacios.

The bill does not take into account the environmental strategic study, and would give the independent authority the power to grant "mining concessions" of up to 46 years, Ligia Guevara, from the coalition of social organisations known as Mesa Frente a la Minería, told IPS. PCN legislator Orlando Arévalo acknowledged that his party had presented the bill denounced by Palacios, but denied that it was drafted by Pacific Rim.

In his view, mining activity requires three requirements that El Salvador lacks: "A clear regulatory framework, a monitoring agency that enforces the law, and a classification of companies that comply with international standards."  He added that this would be difficult to achieve "because we are victims of corruption" and admitted that he does not have a solution for fighting this scourge.

The Mesa Frente a la Minería submitted a bill in 2006 that would ban the mining of metals because "it places present and future generations at risk." But the bill was shelved, noted Palacios.

Sitting in front of a poster that reads "Life is worth more than gold," Irene Castillo and Nelson Ventura, environmentalists from Cabañas, said "human life cannot be sold for a pittance, and this is what we are talking about in the case of mining."

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FRACASA ACUSACIÓN DE PACIFIC RIM CONTRA LA COMUNIDAD “LA TRINIDAD”
Gloria Silvia Orellana, Redacción Diario Co Latino, Diariocolatino.com, 27 de Diciembre de 2007

Fermán Menjívar, residente de la Comunidad La Trinidad, de Sensuntepeque, Cabañas, obtuvo el veredicto de “inocencia”, tras la resolución del jurado que votó cinco a favor y cero en contra, a la acusación presentada por la empresa canadiense Pacific Rim, Mining Corp, que fue celebrada por los habitantes con música, una marcha y una comida.

La Familia Menjívar, junto a los habitantes de la Trinidad denunciaron que la acusación contra Fermán se debió a la negativa de vender el terreno de su propiedad a la empresa Pacific Rim, quienes realizan exploraciones en la zona para la industria minera, lo que ha generado una tensión permanente de los residentes y la empresa

Luis Francisco López, abogado defensor de Fermán Menjívar, afirmó que los miembros de la comunidad le han informado que desde el año 2005, trabajadores de la empresa minera que incursionaron en la zona determinaron que en los terrenos propiedad de la familia Menjívar, pasa una veta de oro; que posteriormente fue ubicada por geólogos mineros norteamericanos quienes llegaron con más frecuencia.

“Sacaban muestras de agua para medir la cantidad de metales y determinar los mismos, quebraban piedras y tomaban muestras de ellas, así y en la medida que confirmaron sus sospechas, comenzaron a hablar de los supuestos beneficios de la Minería Verde, por lo que buscaron obtener el permiso de la familia Menjívar, para instalar en sus terrenos maquinaria pesada y hacer, según ellos, “unas cuantas perforaciones, remociones de terreno y talar unos pocos árboles… a lo que se negaron y la acusación fue el resultado directo”.

Asimismo, explicó que en la comunidad La Trinidad, se tuvo un resultado positivo dado que, en el lugar, la asistencia de algunas ong´s como ASIC, ADES, el Comité Ambiental y la Mesa Nacional Frente la Minería Metálica, habían alertado sobre el impacto negativo para la salud y el medio ambiente la minería metálica.

“La familia Menjívar categóricamente negó el permiso a Pacific Rim, lo cual no agradó a los mineros quienes siguieron presionando, hasta el día 7 de marzo de 2006, cuando varios trabajadores de la empresa Pacific Rim, quienes decían cumplir órdenes de Fredarick Earnast, amenazaron de muerte a la anciana Luciana Menjívar, quien tras recibir las amenazas sufrió un derrame cerebral, del que no se ha recuperado”.

Para el jurista, este tipo de atropellos de empresas transnacionales marca el deterioro en que se encuentra la institucionalidad del país, al permitir este tipo de abusos contra la población más desprotegida.

“Aún cuando pudiera pensarse que la oferta de los mineros venía acompañada de muchos dólares, lo cierto es que solo ofrecían $150, pues dijeron que ellos no querían el terreno, solo extraer el mineral y que posteriormente el terreno seguiría siendo propiedad de los Menjívar”.

La denuncia de la familia Menjívar no se hizo esperar y tras presentarla y declararse en contra este tipo de prácticas y de la minería metálica, la empresa respondió con una acusación judicial contra Ferman Menjívar, único protector de la familia, que se compone de mujeres en su mayoría.

López explicó que el 14 de marzo de 2007, Pacific Rim presentó la acusación contra Ferman Menjívar, a quien le acumulaban la comisión de cinco delitos, realizados en distintas fechas, cuyo contenido eran amenazas contra trabajadores de la empresa minera.

“La estrategia del abogado, que ostentaba en su solapa el escudo de la Fiscalía (General de la República ), subregional de Sensuntepeque, fue apoyarse en el Art. 63, numeral 3º, del Código Procesal Penal y acumular todos los delitos en un solo proceso, para lograr así una condena de 19 años de prisión, y todas las víctimas eran los mineros empleados de la Pacific Rim , obedientes al apoderado legal”.

Asimismo, denunció ante la Corte Suprema de Justicia una persecución judicial, ya que el proceso adolecía de anomalías como “cometer un doble juzgamiento”, prohibido constitucionalmente (Art. 11), falta de prueba suficiente para decretar Apertura a Juicio, así como sobre abundante prueba viciada, producto de una investigación parcializada, pues las víctimas y los testigos eran todos trabajadores de la empresa Pacific Rim.

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WHAT TO DO: info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org

ANOTHER WORLD IS POSSIBLE … EVERY DAY
Rights Action (a tax-deductible organization in Canada and USA) funds and works with community-based development, environment and human rights organizations in Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador and southern Mexico (Oaxaca, Chiapas); and educates about and is involved in activism related to global development, environmental and human rights struggles.

EDUCATIONAL SPEAKING TOUR
In March-April 2008, Rights Action is organizing an educational speaking tour in Canada (and parts of western USA) on the global mining industry, the interests of North American investors, and human rights violations and environmental and development harms caused by the mining industry – and Goldcorp Inc. in particular - in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras.

EDUCATIONAL DELEGATIONS
In April (April 26-May 3) and early July, Rights Action is planning an educational delegation to Guatemala to learn more about community based resistance to the harms of Canadian/ US mining companies.

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