The Struggle for Justice in El Salvador

    In 2004 the Pacific Rim, a Canadian mining company, began conducting gold explorations in El Salvador.  After some research was conducted, it was found that the mine would use 900 million liters of water a day, which is more than a family in El Salvador uses in 20 years.  The water is an important resource for the local families, and research found that the release of heavy metals during mining could easily contaminate the water and that water source is the only water they can easily access.  Two tons of cyanide would be used daily in the mine, and even a minimal amount of exposure to that lethal gas can cause some serious health problems, such as brain damage and even death.
   People began to put together organizations that fought to bring national attention to the dangerous mining business that was beginning in their country.  By 2009, both Presidential candidates took stances against the project.  The Pacific Rim expressed their anger through filing a $100 million lawsuit agains the  Salvadorian government, claiming a breach in the Central American Free Trade Agreement.  The company said they were losing investments and potential profits because of the protests. They also argue that they did not receive the mining permits that allow them to begin their project, but the Salvadorian government has every right to not issue a permit based on the amount of impact that will be caused.  
   What happened next is very, very disturbing.  Soon thereafter, anti-mining activists began receiving death threats.  In 2009 anti-mining activist, Marcelo Rivera disappeared and his brutally tortured body was found in a well days later.  It was not long after until the reporter who reported on the murder began receiving death threats.  Ramiro Rivera, another anti-mining activist, miraculously survived eight bullets to the back, unfortunately he was killed four months later in Cabañas, which is in the northern part of the country. Dora Santos Sorto was shot and killed while walking with her two year old son, her and her husband were both members of the Cabañas Environment Committee. The death threats continued to mount higher and higher, and all because the locals are rightly fighting for an end to the dangerous environment they are being exposed to.  The Salvadorians are fighting against this environmental abuse, but they are being tortured for combatting this injustice and so far little accountability has been brought to the attackers.

Articles to reference:
http://news.change.org/stories/anti-mining-activists-threatened-kidnapped-and-murdered-in-el-salvador

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/29/anti_mining_activists_killed_in_el



~Eve Hansen