Pacific Rim Mining Corp.: CAFTA Proceedings Begin as Tribunal Constituted

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwire - Nov. 19, 2009) - Pac Rim Cayman, LLC ("Pac Rim" or the "Company"), a Nevada corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Rim Mining Corp. (TSX:PMU)(NYSE Amex:PMU) ("Pacific Rim") has received notice from the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes ("ICSID") that the three nominations for arbitrators in the Company's action under the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States of America Free Trade Agreement ("CAFTA") and the El Salvadoran Investment Law have all accepted their appointments. As a result, the Arbitral Tribunal is therefore deemed under ICSID Arbitration Rule 6 to have been constituted. For additional information about Pac Rim's claims against the Government of El Salvador see Pacific Rim news release #-09-03 dated April 30, 2009 or its 2009 Annual Report.

(the whole article)

El Salvador's gold fight goes international

After activists block their permit, Canadian company uses US trade agreement to sue Salvadoran gov't

Five representatives of five organizations in El Salvador that form part of the National Coalition Against Mining, known as La Mesa, were in Washington, DC last month to accept the Letelier-Moffitt International Human Rights Award. The recognition comes at an interesting time as the group's successes in blocking mining exploitation in their small country, have brought about a unique legal situation. Namely, a Canadian mining company is suing the government of El Salvador for $100 million, through a U.S. subsidiary under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The Real News followed the group of activists around Washington, DC, and interviewed the CEO and President of the company behind the suit, Pacific Rim. Produced by Jesse Freeston.

(see more information at: The Real News Network

!Saludos amig@s de Cuidades Hermanas!

As some of you know, two lovely, young, fantastic, volunteers from Lawrence, Kansas are staying in their sister community of El Papaturro until the end of March. Our super awesome staff came up with the wonderful idea of sending monthly updates about our experience- y estamos de acuerdo.

We arrived on October 14th after attending the rockin' National Gathering in Chicago (with several others of you on this listserve), and were greeted by three members of the regional CIRPDES branch in Suchitoto- PROGRESO- where we will be working 3 days a week. They whisked us away to the ever-welcoming community of El Papaturro, our home through the winter.

We've had several meetings with the community directiva and the newly formed ecological committee, which we will be working with over the coming months. The ecological group is made up of about 25 youth from the community, and they have already begun several projects, including:
trash clean-up every 15 days
wooden signs hung over the main road with environmental messages
installation of public trash cans throughout the community
planting of trees for additional shade in public spaces
along with other general awareness-raising projects. One of our goals while working with this group is to create a brochure of the work they have accomplished to share with youth in neighboring communtites in hopes that the movemnt will spread. They have also been working with a nearby Permaculture Institute, and we will be helping to start and maintain an organic garden! This group has really shown how to "Think Globally and Act Locally!"

We have quickly become incorporated into daily community activities, and are eager to learn, from washing clothes in our pila, to milking cows, to making tamales from sweet corn masa (elote), to beginning to learn how to sew clothes and make jewelry- we are kept busy and are constantly leanring new skills and new words in Spanish. We hope to be able to make those perfectly even and round torillas like the women here.

We attended a community assembly, where the security of El Papaturro was discussed. In response to rising levels of delinquency throughout the country, the community decided to have volunteers from each family take turns acting as a nightly vigilance crew. The decision was especially timely, as the community's anniversary is November 25th, and the week of celebratory festivites- such as the big dance- attract many outside visitors to participate. (The ecological group plans to hold a pupusa-eating competition to raise money- the minimum goal is 12 pupusas! Yikes!)

We have also begun to accompany PROGRESO members on their trips to communtities and meetings. We will continue to support these activities, and also share computer skills with the directive.

We will update our blog with photos of our activities, at http://jkandssjb.wordpress.com
Please email us with questions or ideas and we'll include them in our next update. Abrazos fuertes a todos y todas, y hasta luego!

-Jennifer (jennifer.kongs@gmail.com) and Sally (sarahsallyjane@gmail.com)


PROGRESO
Sally Birmingham &/or Jennifer Kongs
Calle Principal, Casa #72,
Barrio La Cruz
Suchitoto, Cuscatlan
El Salvador

CLOSING THE DOORS TO EL DORADO

Byline:MARCELA SANCHEZ
c.2009 Marcela Sanchez
Distributed by The New York Times Syndicate.

In 2002, the Canadian mining company Pacific Rim received preliminary
permits to explore gold-mining possibilities in northern El Salvador.
The company's representatives assured residents of nearby San Isidro
that the El Dorado mine project would create much-needed jobs and
development.

Although Pacific Rim insisted that its cyanide-based extracting
methods were eco-friendly and that its cleaning processes would
render all the water it used potable, community leaders were
skeptical. They had seen firsthand how nearby communities had lost
their water supplies to the mining industry, and they were worried
about what would happen to San Isidro.

(The complete article)

OCTOBER 25 HONDURAS SOLIDARITY UPDATE FROM US-ES SISTER CITIES

Dear US-ES Sister Cities Friends,

The Michelleti coup regime’s harsh repression against the Honduran popular movement continues. Negotiations between Michelleti’s representatives and those of President Manuel Zelaya have stalled as reports indicate that Michelleti refuses to agree to the return of President Zelaya to office.

Actions:

The heroic people’s resistance movement in Honduras continues to need our support. Here are three actions we can take to help:

1) Pressure US Lobbying firm to stop their PR work on behalf of the coup regime.

Hondurans organizing in the United States against the coup have called for pressure on the Washington, DC lobbying firm of Chlopak, Leonard, Schechter & Associates to cease their public relations work for the Coup Regime. To take action go to: http://www.SOAW.org/clsa. (For Background info on the lobbying firm, go to: http://porlademocracia.org/actividades.html)

2) Contact your congressperson

Several of you responded to our call last week to contact your congresspersons and ask them to sign the letter from Congressmen Serrano and Grijalva to President Obama calling for an end to the coup regime’s human rights violations against the Honduran people. The US continues to send economic aid to the regime and has not withdrawn its ambassador as almost all other countries have. Those who asked their congressperson to take action had some success, so everyone please reach out. Thanks! For more info: http://quixote.org/content/us-representatives-ask-president-obama-denounce-human-rights-abuses-honduras

3) Human Rights Delegation to Honduras
RIGHTS ACTION is organizing a HUMAN RIGHTS DELEGATION TO HONDURAS November 24 – December 1, 2009. The delegation will overlap with November 29th, the date slated for Honduras’ presidential elections. It is highly doubtful that fair elections can be held, let alone whether elections should be held at all on November 29th given the on-going state of militarization and repression by the oligarchic-military regime. For more information: http://rightsaction.org/Delegations&Tours/Honduras_112409.html

Public Education:

The mainstream US press continues to fail miserably in providing accurate coverage of the situation in Honduras. To learn more and to share information with others, please see the following sources:

a) An excellent short piece on who’s who in Honduras by Honduran medical doctor and human rights activist Juan Almendres: http://www.quixote.org/content/honduran-resistance-giant-awakes-new-hope-born

b) To find out more about how the coup is affecting women in particular, see this article by Margaret Knapke in Foreign Policy In Focus.:http://www.fpif.org/fpiftxt/6518

c) Finally, for an easy-to-read, shor, illustrated version of events in Honduras, check out: http://www.alternet.org/images/slideshows/houduras_coup/illustration.php

Ok, thanks to everyone for all your help! Let us know what actions you take and any response you get from the officials you contact. Adelante!

In solidarity, US-El Salvador Sister Cities

--------------

...across the world a thousand and one new forces are emerging...from the bottom
up and the inside out...reviving the battered traditions of tolerance, mutual
assistance and communion with nature.... These movements are mosquitoes on the
attack, stinging a system that repels the hug and compels the shrug...

-Eduardo Galeano, Upside Down

CAFTA strikes again!

Sat, 17 Oct 2009 17:29:14 -0500

Summary:

The Canadian company Pacific Rim Mining Corp. is angered at the Ministry of Environment in El Salvador for refusing them from drilling for gold.

The Ministry and the people of Cabanas, who have been protesting, are concerned of the threat that the cyanide used to extract the gold would poison the country’s largest river.

What is the company doing to fight back? Thanks to the U.S. Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), which passed in congress by only 2 votes, they are suing El Salvador for $77 million for lost profits.

Along with this egregiously unjust law, the infamous death squads which terrorized the people of El Salvador throughout the 8o’s are back. They are targeting those opposed to CAFTA, including trade unionist, and members of the left political party, the FMLN.

[Posted By shades]

By None Attributed
Republished from CISPES

for more info: original source

Two important pieces of information regarding Honduras

October 18, 2009

Sister Cities Friends,

Two important pieces of information regarding Honduras
passed on from our friends at Rights Action:

1) News Video:

Please watch and share this excellent short news report
from the Al Jazeera Program "Fault Lines" (Two 11 minute
videos). It provides invaluable background info and
highlights the work of the social movement:

http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/faultlines/2009/10/200910159650241957.html

2) Dear Colleague Letter to have Obama speak out
more forcefully against the coup and its human rights
abuses.

Representatives Grijalva and Serrano are circulating
a Dear Colleague Letter (see below) on Honduras.
Please contact your congressperson and ask
them to sign on! At this point there are only 4 signers!

-------------------
LETTER TO U.S. REPRESENTATIVES
Please forward this letter to your Representative and ask them to sign this letter, calling on Pres. Obama to denounce human rights abuses in Honduras.
Current Signers: Grijalva, Serrano, Stark, D. Davis, Shakowsky
From: Daniel Z. Brito, Legislative Assistant, Congressman Raúl M. Grijalva (gree-HAHL-vah)
1440 Longworth House Office Building, Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.2435, daniel.brito@mail.house.gov\

October 13, 2009
HONDURAS: MICHELETTI DICTATORSHIP CRACKS DOWN ON INDEPENDENT MEDIA - AGAIN
"The new decree is simply aimed at silencing us once and for all." (Channel 36 director Esdras Lopez)

Dear Colleague:

Since the return of Manuel Zelaya, recognized by the Obama Administration as “the democratically elected and constitutional leader of Honduras.,” the de facto regime in that nation has intensified its assault on Hondurans demanding a return to democracy.
Dictator Roberto Micheletti suspended the constitution on September 27 in Executive Decree PCM-M-016-2009 and forces loyal to the regime then attacked and shut down the last independent media in the country, leaving the junta firmly in control of what Hondurans see and hear.
Despite widespread reporting that the Decree has been “rescinded,” the rescission STILL has not been printed in La Gaceta, meaning the Decree is still legally in effect, and de facto, it is still being enforced with brute violence by the coup regime.
Also, the Micheletti dictatorship published on Saturday, October 10, another decree granting themselves the power to shut down independent media. "The new decree is simply aimed at silencing us once and for all," said Channel 36 director Esdras Lopez.
The New York Times last week finally reported on the widespread rights abuses occurring under the Micheletti dictatorship: “Eleven people have been killed since the coup, according to the Committee for Families of the Disappeared and Detainees in Honduras, or Cofadeh.
“[…] The groups describe an atmosphere of growing impunity, one in which security forces act unhindered by legal constraints. Their free hand had been strengthened by an emergency decree allowing the police to detain anyone suspected of posing a threat.
“In the 1980s, there were political assassinations, torture and disappearances,” said Bertha Oliva, Cofadeh’s general coordinator, in an interview last week, recalling the political repression of the country’s so-called dirty war. “They were selective and hidden. But now there is massive repression and defiance of the whole world. They do it in broad daylight, without any scruples, with nothing to stop them.”
Please join me in writing to President Obama to ask that his administration finally and firmly denounce these human rights abuses and join the consensus in the Americas regarding the scheduled elections.
To sign this letter, please contact Daniel Brito via email or at x. 5.2435.
Sincerely,
Raúl M. Grijalva, Member of Congress
Jose E. Serrano, Member of Congress
* * *
President Barack Obama
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20502
Dear President Obama,
We are writing to you regarding an urgent situation where lives are at stake and action on your part may prevent further tragedy.
Since the return to Honduras of President Manuel Zelaya, the de facto regime has taken further repressive measures, in addition to the previous violations of basic rights and civil liberties which have been recognized and denounced by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and all of the key Honduran human rights NGOs, among others.
According to reports from the media and rights organizations, the coup regime violently dispersed a gathering of Hondurans in front of the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa with tear gas, clubs and rubber bullets, resulting in numerous casualties, including several reported fatalities.
While the siege of the Embassy is a serious violation of the Vienna Convention, more disturbing is the broad assault against the Honduran people unleashed by the coup regime.
On September 22, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, Jose Miguel Vivanco, stated that “given the reports we have received, and the poor track record of the security forces since the coup, we fear that conditions could deteriorate drastically in the coming days.” That same day, the Americas Director for the London-based rights organization Amnesty International, Susan Lee, has stated that “the attacks against human rights defenders, suspension of news outlets, beating of demonstrators by the police and ever increasing reports of mass arrests indicate that human rights and the rule of law in Honduras are at grave risk.”
The international community has also spoken out regarding the worsening human rights situation in Honduras. On September 22nd, Mexico released a statement in the name of 23-member Rio Group demanding that the de facto government stop carrying out “acts of repression and violation of human rights of all Hondurans.” The following day, the Presidency of the European Union seconded the Rio Group statement.
Mr. President, we were glad to hear State Department spokesman Ian Kelly on September 22 reaffirm the position of the Administration that Manuel Zelaya is the “democratically elected and constitutional leader of Honduras.” But unfortunately, the mixed messages that have characterized the Administration’s response persist.
The head of the US delegation to the Organization of American States Lewis Amselem represented our nation in that body by saying “Zelaya’s return to Honduras is irresponsible and foolish and it doesn’t serve to the interest of the people nor those who seek the restoration of democratic order in Honduras […] Everything will be better if all parties refrain from provoking and inciting violence.”
Not content to place equal blame on both the victims of the violence and the perpetrators, he then chose to personally insult Mr. Zelaya, saying “The president should stop acting as though he were starring in an old Woody Allen movie.” State Department spokespersons have declined numerous opportunities to distance your administration from Amselem’s words.
We note that, unlike the coup leaders, President Zelaya has indicated his openness to dialogue and has accepted the San Jose agreement that emerged from the US-backed mediation process led by President Oscar Arias of Costa Rica.
The suspension of rights announced by the junta on September 27 in Executive Decree PCM-M-016-2009 is still being enforced, according to numerous reports, with independent media outlets like Radio Globo and Canal 36 already having been raided and had their equipment stolen.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has declared that “the suspension is a violation of international law, as it was adopted to sustain the illegitimate government that arose from the rupture of the democratic institutional order, which took place on June 28, 2009.” The IACHR also expressed “deep concern over this decree, whose provisions arbitrarily restrict fundamental human rights and contain vague regulations that grant absolute discretion to the authorities, especially the Army and the Police forces.”
Though we commend the administration for having strongly stated their support for the restoration of democracy in Honduras, we are concerned that neither you nor the Secretary of State has denounced these serious human rights abuses in a country where US influence could be decisive.
It is now more urgent than ever to break this silence. It is critical that your Administration immediately clearly and unequivocally reject and denounce the repression by this illegitimate regime. We can say sincerely and without hyperbole that this action on your part will save lives.
Furthermore, the vast majority of our neighbors in the region, including Brazil and Mexico, have clearly indicated that they will not recognize the results of elections held under the coup regime.
On September 29, Costa Rican President and US-appointed mediator Oscar Arias noted the regime’s continued rejection of the San Jose accords, and warned that Honduran elections cannot be recognized by the international community without a restoration of constitutional order. Arias said, "the cost of failure of leaving a coup d'etat unpunished is setting up a bad precedent for the region. […] You could have remembrances of a bad Latin American past, insisting on elections under these circumstances and overlooking items in the San Jose Accord.”
It is time for the administration to join this growing hemispheric and international consensus and unambiguously state that elections organized by an undemocratic government that has denied critics of the regime the right to free speech, assembly, and movement, cannot and will not be considered free and fair by our government.
We feel it is imperative that the administration step up its efforts to bring about a prompt restoration of democracy in Honduras, together with other regional leaders.
We eagerly await your reply.

* * *

Honduran update: negotiations at key point

frin Sister Cities (http://www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org)

Negotiations between the coup government and President
Zelaya's delegation have advanced on "90 %" of
the issues with the main pending point being the
return of the President Zelaya to power. (source: Telesur)

It's important to note that the representative of the
civil society organizations in resistance who was part
of President Zelaya's negotiating delegation, stepped
down from his place at the table because of a negotiated
agreement between the coup government and Zelaya's
team to NOT hold a Constitutional Assembly.

Still, the Frente's representative Juan Barahona said that the fact that Zelya signs
the agreement not to reform the Constitution will not cause the Frente to withdraw
its support for President Zelaya.

"We do not agree with the decision about the constitutional assembly, but the Resistance Front will continue.... Even if Zelaya returns to office, we will not renounce our fight for the constitutional assembly."

("No estamos de acuerdo, pero vamos a respetar la decisión de la renuncia (de Zelaya) a la constituyente, pero el frente de resistencia continuará (...) aún si Zelaya vuelve al poder no vamos a renunciar a la constituyente", aseveró el líder social)

If you speak Spanish, one of the best sources for updated
news on the situation is Telesur: http://telesurtv.net/

Reporting for DN! from inside the Brazilian Embassy in Tegucigalpa

Democracy Now! will have a segment on Honduras on Tuesday morning with Dr. Luther Castillo who is part of the Frente contra el golpe, and myself who will report from inside the Brazillian embassy, where I have been since Monday, Sep. 21.

Please tune in ... and spread the word...www.democracynow.org.

Also, for Spanish speakers/readers... we have an entire page dedicated to the crisis in Honduras:
http://i1.democracynow.org/es/paginas/golpe_honduras

Amy Goodman's last column deals with Honduras:
http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2009/9/23/president_zelaya_and_the_audacity_of_action

If you know of press who want commentary from inside the embassy, please point them in my direction.

I have been swamped with dozens of interviews, and it's not always easy to get through, but keep trying.
Have been meaning to blog from inside the embassy, and hope to send out that info tomorrow.

BLOG ENTRY: A few hours ago, the CNN in English crew was really upset.. It took them 4 days to get the ok for an interview from the Micheletti regime, and then they arrive unannounced to the gates of the embassy. Mel could not speak with them at that hour of the evening, and they went away miffed. If they come back tomorrow, Mel will give the interview... but they said they would not come back. I wonder if they would expect President Obama to give them an interview if they arrived unannounced to the steps of the White House.

gracias,

andrés

Andrés Thomas Conteris
Democracy Now! en español
andres@democracynow.org
www.democracynow.org/es

Nonviolence International
Program on the Americas
andres@desmilitarizacion.net

Tel. 212-431-9090 ext 827
Cel in the U.S. 202-232-1999
Cel in Honduras 011-504-9777-8514
SKYPE: aconteris

Pacific Rim is seeking in excess of the US$77 million

By Fernando Cabrera Diaz
2 September 2009

El Salvador’s ruling FMLN party is considering a ban on precious metal mining in response to public opposition to perceived environmental degradation. The government of El Salvador has not issued mining permits for two years, and as a result is now facing two arbitration claims before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

In August ICSID registered a claim by Commerce Group Corp., a company based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and its affiliate San Sebastian Gold Mines. The Claimants contend that El Salvador revoked its mining permits without justification, and in violation of the Dominican Republic-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

A similar claim by the Vancouver-based Pacific Rim was registered by ICSID in June. Pacific Rim claims that Ecuador violated CAFTA-DR by refusing to grant exploitation concessions and environmental permits after it had met the necessary requirements.

Pacific Rim is seeking in excess of the US$77 million it claims to have invested in El Salvador since 2002, mostly in its El Dorado Gold Mine project located in the north-central department of Cabañas. In a press release, the company charges: “Despite strong local support and the inclusion of carefully engineered and reliable environmental protections for the proposed El Dorado Mine, the Government has not met its responsibility to issue the Enterprises the permits necessary to advance the project to the final step of full production.”
(click for the rest of the story)

URGENT ACTION: PROTESTERS ATTACKED

URGENT ACTION: PROTESTERS ATTACKED



UPDATE: The protestors camped out in front of the Brazilian Embassy were violently attacked and removed from the Embassy with live rounds of ammunition and tear gas. There are at least 4 people wounded. President Zelaya was in the middle of an interview with Radio Globo early this morning from inside the Brazilian Embassy, struggling to talk through the tear gas, when the Radio Globo signal was once again cut.

The curfew started yesterday at 4pm has been extended until 6pm today.

Call to Action from the Quixote Center Delegation, 21 September 2009

U.S. citizens should contact the U.S. State Department and their Congressional Representatives to demand that the U.S. government:
pressure the de facto government of Honduras to refrain from using violence against nonviolent protestors
pressure the de facto regime to cease its repression of the freedom of expression and information in Honduras
unequivocally support the return to power of elected President Manuel Zelaya

President Manuel Zelaya returned today to Honduras, where he is camping out in the Brazilian embassy along with members of his cabinet. As thousands of people gathered in front of the embassy to welcome Zelaya back, the president of the coup government, Roberto Micheletti, threatened to cancel the embassy’s immunity if Zelaya were not handed over to the de facto government.

The power at the Brazilian embassy as well as at anti-coup media stations was cut, and the de facto government instated a curfew from 4pm this afternoon to 7am tomorrow. Nevertheless, people have remained in the streets around the Brazilian embassy, planning to stay throughout the night to demonstrate support for Manuel Zelaya’s return to power, and to protect him. Police and military units are on the streets to enforce the curfew, which has been extended to 6pm tomorrow.

The situation is extremely tense. People who remain in the streets during the night expect repression from police and military forces, which have blocked the entrance of people coming into Tegucigalpa from other parts of the country. National Resistance Front Against the Coup has sent out a call for a national strike tomorrow, and for people to come from all parts of the country to the capital to continue the show of popular support for the return of the democratically elected president.

The Honduran police and military have committed grave human rights violations under this coup regime, often during instated curfews. Again, we are asking U.S. Citizens to contact the State Department and Congressional Representatives to demand that the Honduran coup government refrain from further violations over the coming days.

Extremely Urgent: Support Zelaya and Honduras Now!!!

Democratically-elected President Manuel Zelaya of Honduras has returned to Tegucigalpa, the Honduran capitol, some 85 days after being thrown out of the country in a military coup.

It is not clear whether Zelaya had the permission of the Honduran military to return to Honduras, but early indications are that perhaps he did not. If this is the case, his life may be in danger, and the situation in Honduras could be very volatile, and could turn very violent at any time.

It is extremely important that Zelaya receive as much support as possible at this critical time. This is important not just for his life and the future of Honduras, but for the future of democracy throughout Latin America.

Please call First District Representative Chellie Pingree, Second District Representative Mike Michaud, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and President Barack Obama and urge them to issue strong statements of support for Honduran President Zelaya as soon as possible. You will find the appropriate phone numbers below.

Thank you very much for your support of democracy and human rights in Honduras and throughout Latin America! Please distribute this message far and wide!

Lawrence Reichard
Bangor, Maine
lreichard@gmail.com

Chellie Pingree
Pingree: 202-225-6116

Mike Michaud
Michaud: 202-225-6306
942-6935

Hillary Clinton
(State Department Switchboard)
202-647-4000

White House Comment Line
(202) 456-1111

September 15 - Central American Independence Day; Neocolonialism Meets Resistance in Hondura

Friday 18 September 2009

by: Tom Loudon, t r u t h o u t | News Analysis

Since the coup that deposed the president of Honduras, a resistance movement has continued to grow. (Photo: YamilGonzales / flickr)

On the 80th day of the coup, both the de facto government and the resistance movement against the coup held marches to celebrate the anniversary of Central America's independence from Spain. At a military parade, de facto President Roberto Micheletti defiantly insisted that it would take a military intervention to remove him. Meanwhile, thousands of coup resisters, with elected President Manuel Zelaya's wife at the head, marched through the central park of Tegucigalpa, where last month police and military attacked peaceful protesters and passers-by. The massive resistance movement in Honduras continues to grow, denouncing the violent coup as an illegal takeover on the part of neocolonial economic and military interests.

(For the Whole Story)

Pacific Rim Responds to report about Marcelo Rivera's murder

(received from US.-E.S. Sister Cities)

Pacific Rim response to report “Gold, impunity, violence in El Salvador”
20 August 2009

On 13 August 2009, Real News Network posted a video report that raised concerns about violence against anti-mining activists and pollution from gold mining in El Salvador, specifically referring to Pacific Rim Mining. The report is available at http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=411.

The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre invited Pacific Rim to respond; the company sent the following response:

“Thank you for the opportunity to respond.

Pacific Rim is saddened and outraged by the horrible death of Marcelo Rivera.

The community of San Isidro has lost a leader and a teacher. We have always respected the rights of Marcelo and all others to participate in the mining debate, which he did in a non-violent manner, and ask others to follow his lead.

Let us be very clear, the company has no knowledge of the crime, other than information published in the local media. We know of no connection of the murder to anti-mining activities in this crime but welcome any and all investigations. By law, Salvadoran police reports are closed for six months.

We encourage anyone having knowledge of the crime to step forward. Like everyone in the community, we rely upon and welcome the institutions of El Salvador to investigate and solve this crime and bring those responsible for Marcelo’s unnecessary death to justice. The police have four suspects in custody.

We are appalled that certain people, groups and media outlets have irresponsibly accused Pacific Rim of involvement in this terrible crime.

Unfortunately, as a result of these unfounded accusations against the company, tensions have mounted and violent threats have been made against our Salvadoran employees, a respected member of society who serves on our Advisory Board, our attorney in Washington D.C. and management of the company in the United States. These accusations against the Company are a calculated attempt to taint Pacific Rim and disrupt the resolution of our CAFTA dispute.

We are encouraged by statements from government officials of El Salvador that they will resolve our investment dispute and we depend upon the legal processes in place for settling the dispute. We rely on the government of El Salvador to insure the rule of law is observed by all parties, including the protection of opposition activists, as well as our employees and property.

There is no place in the mining debate for threats upon people’s lives and safety. We reach out to all involved in the debate to return to discussing the issue calmly, using science and logic, and to keep emotions in check. We ask all parties involved in the mining debate to refrain from violence, threats of violence and attempts to incite violence. We always encourage an open and healthy debate founded upon honest scientific fact and economic and social reality. We remain committed to achieving a peaceful resolution that will benefit the people of Cabañas and all Salvadorans.


CORRECTIONS AND/OR COMMENTS

As to the video you provide in your email, linked as follows, http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=4118&updaterx=2009-08-13+02:14:31, we offer the following comments and corrections to information and misinformation as reported in the video.

Pacific Rim has held, and continues to hold numerous public consultations.

These consultations were key to the environmental design of the proposed mine and are fully documented in our Environmental Impact Study, that according to the Salvadoran environmental agency, MARN, was the most thorough they had ever seen at the time we submitted it.

The comparison of our mine design to the Honduran operations is incorrect.

The video shows an open pit mine, a surface mine. Our proposed El Dorado mine design is an underground mine with minimal surface disturbance. The video shows clips of people with skin disorders in the vicinity of one of the Honduran operations which opposition groups continually report to be related to the mine itself. The skin rashes were independently investigated by health institutions. A copy of their report is attached.

The statement that we received "very friendly treatment" from the administration of former President Tony Saca is incorrect and illogical. If we received such treatment, why then were we forced to file an investment dispute through international arbitration during the former President's term? Our claim is based upon our illegal treatment by the government of El Salvador under the leadership of former President Saca with respect to Salvadoran law and international treaty. This hardly qualifies as "friendly treatment".

There is no basis to the statement that Ana Vilma de Escobar, the former Vice President during the Saca administration, and/or her family, are significant shareholders of Pacific Rim. We have no knowledge that they own any shares in the Company. Why would she or her family make such an investment when the administration was failing to approve our permit application?

Pacific Rim supported the attempted Salvadoran congressional changes to the mining law, which would have strengthened the laws for environmental protection and increased the royalty. This law was debated in special committee and effectively died in committee through the actions of former President Saca.

With regard to the alleged lack of democratic process, mayoral elections and congressional elections were held earlier this year.

Democracy was convincingly demonstrated in these elections in Cabañas.

Mining was a major issue in the Cabañas elections and the people overwhelmingly voted for candidates that favored the proposed project and rejected those candidates who were opposed. Pacific Rim has never contributed to any campaign of any electoral candidate from any party anywhere in El Salvador or anywhere else. The majority of the people of El Salvador and especially the people of Cabañas support the project and mining in general.

The statements regarding contamination from heavy metals such as "arsenic and lead" have no basis in scientific fact. The most common rock type exposed on the surface of El Salvador has three times more arsenic and about the same levels of lead as the veins that contain the gold. There is no potential for acid mine drainage in this type of gold deposit, geologically known as low-sulfidation epithermal. This is the only type of deposit for which we explore for exactly that reason. One of our main company goals is to raise the bar for environmental protection. Further, the waters draining from the historical workings are alkaline, not acidic. We refer you to our web page (in Spanish) which provides technical, scientific and economic information about our project: http://www.pacificrim.com.sv .

Protecting and improving local water supplies is a major objective in our proposed mine design. This mine would be the single most progressive mine ever built in the Americas when considering environmental protections. In our numerous community consultations, it was obvious water was the issue of greatest concern to the people of the area who survive largely on subsistence farming and remittances from family members in the US. While there is a lack of potable water and infrastructure for collecting water in El Salvador, there is no lack of water. El Salvador is sub-tropical and receives abundant rainfall during the rainy season. Our mine design includes the construction of a reservoir for water collection during the rainy season for storage and use during the dry season. There are no production wells in the design and the operation will actually improve the flow and availability of water during the dry season when it is most needed.

Surface waters on site have been contaminated with bacteria, detergents, insecticides, herbicides and fertilizers as a result of heavy surface water use by local inhabitants and the lack of adequate water treatment facilities. Our mine design includes a water treatment plant.

Any waters flowing out of the proposed mine will be cleaner than the waters flowing into the collection reservoir.

It is true that our exploration drilling temporarily disrupted the flow of a local spring. Our technical staff determined the cause and provided a temporary water supply until the problem was corrected. Today, the spring continues to flow as it has for over a hundred years.

Finally, Oscar Menjivar does not, and has never worked in any capacity for Pacific Rim.

Respectfully,
Tom Shrake
President & CEO
Pacific Rim Mining Corp.
Reno, NV USA”

Anti-Mining Protest in front of the Pacific Rim Headquaters

For your information, the FMLN committees of
Vancouver and Victoria are planning an
anti-mining protest in front of the Pacific Rim
Headquaters (595 Burrard St.) in Vancouver this
coming Monday September 14th, from 11:30-12:30.
If you have any contacts that would benefit from
this information please feel free to pass it on.
The more people present the better. Our goal is
to send a strong message to Pacific Rim that
there are people here in Canada that are aware
of their actions in El Salvador. We will also be
passing out information pamphlets in order to
increase education and awareness regarding this
important issue.

from
Jamie Kneen
Communications & Outreach Coordinator
MiningWatch Canada
http://www.miningwatch.ca

US halts aid over Honduras coup

The US has halted all non-humanitarian aid to Honduras in the wake of the coup there in June. The department of state said it needed to take strong action given the failure of the replacement regime "to restore democratic, constitutional rule". Meanwhile, Brazil has suspended visa-free travel for all Hondurans in response to the coup. Click to go to full story

El Salvador's Gold Fight

Michael Busch | July 16, 2009

Editor: Emily Schwartz Greco

Foreign Policy In Focus


As El Salvador transitions from decades of conservative rule to the administration of leftist President Mauricio Funes, the country faces an international showdown triggered by a restrictive free-trade agreement between the United States and Central America. Canada's Pacific Rim Mining Corporation is suing the government for its refusal to allow it to mine gold in El Salvador's rural north. If Pacific Rim succeeds in securing the $100 million settlement it seeks, that would set a troubling precedent. At stake is a question that affects all nations: Can private interests trump national sovereignty under international law?

click for entire article

Owner-state model would benefit Sudan (& other places?)

Anchorage Daily News


by WALLY HICKEL (former Interior Secretary for Nixon)
COMMENT

(05/30/09 19:02:51)

For 16 years, my son Jack worked in southern Africa as a medical missionary, mostly in Swaziland. When his mother and I visited, we discovered that, in spite of the dramatically different climate, Jack was facing challenges in rural Africa that were similar to those in rural Alaska.

Since 1997 Jack has been back in Alaska earning funds to help his children get through college. He works at the Alaska Native Medical Center, but he has never lost his commitment to Africa.

More than a year ago, he visited southern Sudan to help Dr. Jill Seaman, a Bethel physician who works for much of the year in the remote village of Old Fangak, located in the largest swamp in the world, east of the Nile River.

(link to complete article)

Fingerprinting Plan Will Dramatically Increase Deportations

'Secure Communities' Would Ensnare Minor as well as Serious Offenders

By Daphne Eviatar 5/22/09 6:00 AM

The idea of deporting illegal immigrants who are also hardened criminals wouldn’t seem like a controversial idea. So when David Venturella, Executive Director of the Secure Communities Program at Immigration and Customs Enforcement testified to Congress in April, he proudly announced the expansion of his program as part of a “comprehensive effort to increase national security and community safety by identifying, processing, and removing deportable criminal aliens.”

(click for entire article at source)

Obama on Immigration Reform

from the "100th Day Press Conference"

QUESTION: Thank you, Mr. President. Mr. President, when you met with the Hispanic Caucus a few weeks ago, reports came out that the White House was planning to have a forum to talk about immigration and bring it to the forefront.

Going forward, my question is, what is your strategy to try to have immigration reform? And are you still on the same timetable to have it accomplished in the first year of your presidency?

And, also, I'd like to know if you're going to reach out to Senator John McCain , who is Republican and in the past has favored immigration reform?

OBAMA: Well, we reach out to -- to Senator McCain on a whole host of issues. He has been a leader on immigration reform. I think he has had the right position on immigration reform. And I would love to partner with him and others on what is going to be a critical issue. We've also worked with Senator McCain on what I think is a terrific piece of legislation that he and Carl Levin have put together around procurement reform. We want that moved, and we're going to be working hard with them to get that accomplished.

What I told the Congressional Hispanic Caucus is exactly what I said the very next day in a town hall meeting and what I will continue to say publicly, and that is we want to move this process.

We can't continue with a broken immigration system. It's not good for anybody. It's not good for American workers. It's dangerous for Mexican would-be workers who are trying to cross a dangerous border.

OBAMA: It is -- it is putting a strain on border communities, who oftentimes have to deal with a host of undocumented workers. And it keeps those undocumented workers in the shadows, which means they can be exploited at the same time as they're depressing U.S. wages.

So, what I hope to happen is that we're able to convene a working group, working with key legislators like Luis Gutierrez and Nydia Velazquez and others to start looking at a framework of how this legislation might be shaped.

In the meantime, what we're trying to do is take some core -- some key administrative steps to move the process along to lay the groundwork for legislation. Because the American people need some confidence that if we actually put a package together, we can execute.

So Janet Napolitano , who has great knowledge of this because of having been a border governor, she's already in the process of reviewing and figuring out how can we strengthen our border security in a much more significant way than we're doing.

If the American people don't feel like you can secure the borders, then it's hard to strike a deal that would get people out of the shadows and on a pathway to citizenship who are already here, because the attitude of the average American is going to be, well, you're just going to have hundreds of thousands of more coming in each year.

On the other hand, showing that there is a more thoughtful approach than just raids of a handful of workers as opposed to, for example, taking seriously the violation of companies that sometimes are actively recruiting these workers to come in. That's again something we can start doing administratively.

So what we want to do is to show that we are competent and getting results around immigration, even on the structures that we already have in place, the laws that we already have in place, so that we're building confidence among the American people that we can actually follow through on whatever legislative approach emerges. OK?

New York Times Editorial

May 3, 2009

Editorial

A Shift on Immigration

Last week, immigration enforcement policy shifted a little. The administration issued guidelines for Immigration and Customs Enforcement that place a new emphasis on prosecuting employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

That is a good idea, and a break from the Bush administration method — mass raids to net immigrant workers while leaving their bosses alone. The raids were tuned to the theatrics of the poisoned immigration debate, using heavy weapons, dogs and helicopters to spread the illusion that something was getting fixed.

But as policy, they were worse than useless. They netted about 6,000 undocumented immigrants, out of 12 million, and 135 employers or supervisors. They destroyed families, tearing parents and grandparents from children, many of them citizens. The fear they caused went viral in immigrant communities, driving workers further into the arms of abusive employers while bringing us no closer to a working immigration system.
(Link to complete Editorial)

Rights, Not Raids

Comment

By Bill Ong Hing & David Bacon

This article appeared in the May 18, 2009 edition of The Nation.

April 29, 2009

When the Obama administration reiterated recently that it will make an immigration reform proposal this year, hopes rose among millions of immigrant families for the "change we can believe in." That was followed by a new immigration position embraced by both the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win unions, rejecting the expansion of guest worker programs, which some unions had supported.

As it prepares a reform package, the administration should look seriously at why the deals created over the past several years failed, and consider alternatives. Beltway groups are again proposing employment visas for future (post-recession, presumably) labor shortages and continued imprisonment of the undocumented in detention centers, which they deem "necessary in some cases." Most disturbing, after years of the Bush raids, is the continued emphasis on enforcement against workers.

We need a reality check.

For more than two decades it has been a crime for an undocumented worker to hold a job in the United States. To enforce the prohibition, agents conduct immigration raids, of the kind we saw at meatpacking plants in the past few years.

(link to complete article)

How “The NAFTA Flu” Exploded

Smithfield Farms Fled US Environmental Laws to Open a Gigantic Pig Farm in Mexico, and All We Got Was this Lousy Swine Flu

By Al Giordano
Special to The Narco News Bulletin

April 29, 2009

US and Mexico authorities claim that neither knew about the “swine flu” outbreak until April 24. But after hundreds of residents of a town in Veracruz, Mexico, came down with its symptoms, the story had already hit the Mexican national press by April 5. The daily La Jornada reported:

Clouds of flies emanate from the rusty lagoons where the Carroll Ranches business tosses the fecal wastes of its pig farms, and the open-air contamination is already generating an epidemic of respiratory infections in the town of La Gloria, in the Perote Valley, according to Town Administrator Bertha Crisóstomo López.

The town has 3,000 inhabitants, hundreds of whom reported severe flu symptoms in March.

(link to full article)

Pacific Rim Subsidiary Commences CAFTA Arbitration Proceedings Against the Government of El Salvador

(Pac Rim press release)

VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA -- 04/30/09 -- Pac Rim Cayman LLC ("Pac Rim" or the "Company"), a Nevada corporation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pacific Rim Mining Corp. (TSX: PMU)(NYSE Alternext US: PMU)(NYSE Amex: PMU.A) ("Pacific Rim") has today filed international arbitration proceedings against the Government of El Salvador (the "Government") under the Central America-Dominican Republic-United States of America Free Trade Agreement ("CAFTA") in its own name and on behalf of its two wholly-owned El Salvadoran enterprises, Pacific Rim El Salvador, Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable ("PRES") and Dorado Exploraciones, Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable ("DOREX") (collectively, the "Enterprises"). The Company has retained the Washington, DC-based international law firm of Crowell & Moring, LLP to represent it in the arbitration. The Company will be seeking award of damages in the hundreds of millions of dollars from the Government for its multiple breaches of international and Salvadoran law.
(link to the complete press release)

Pacific Rim mining suing El Salvador

Mining company seeks arbitration over 4-year delay in El Salvador

By BLAKE SCHMIDT

Special to The Miami Herald

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- Canadian mining company Pacific Rim will take the Salvadoran government to international arbitration court for alleged losses caused by government ''inaction'' due to permit delays for what would be El Salvador's biggest mine to date.

The company has been waiting for four years for final permits for the underground gold mine, which faces staunch opposition from Salvadoran environmentalists and church leaders as the first large-scale mine in 70 years in Central America's smallest country.

The case is among the first international investment disputes under the Central American Free-Trade Agreement, or CAFTA, which eliminated barriers to trade and laid ground rules for such disputes. The Vancouver-based company invested $77 in exploration after it received initial permits in 2005.

(Link for the rest of the story)

The Growing Latin American Influence: Opportunities for Maine's Economy

Thursday April 23rd, 2009
Maine Center for Economic Policy

Nearly 16,000 Hispanics live in Maine. From 2000 to 2007, Maine's Hispanic population grew by 67% compared to 3.3% growth for the total population. This report documents the contributions of Maine's growing Latino population focusing on first and second generation Latinos. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative research, we follow the demographic trends, economic contributions and varied experiences associated with the state's growing Hispanic population.
(view full publication)

An Answer to the Global Food Crisis: Peasants and small farmers can feed the world!

(this is a little dated but still good!!!) (Click here for the original and to get whole article) Thursday, 01 May 2008

Prices on the world market for cereals are rising. Wheat prices increased by 130% in the period between March 2007- March 2008. Rice prices increased by almost 80% in the period up to 2008. Maize prices increased by 35% between March 2007 and March 2008 (1). In countries that depend heavily on food imports some prices have gone up dramatically. Poor families see their food bills go up and can no longer afford to buy the minimum needed. In many countries cereal prices have doubled or tripled over the last year. Governments in these countries are under high pressure to make food available at reasonable prices. In Haiti the government already fell because of this issue and strong protests have taken place in other countries such as Cameroun, Egypt, and the Philippines… The current crisis: a result of agricultural liberalization Some analyst have been exclusively blaming agrofuels, the increasing world demand and global warming for the current food crisis. But actually, this crisis is also the result of many years of destructive policies that have undermined domestic food production. Trade liberalization has waged a virtual war against small producers. Farmers have been forced to produce cash crops for transnational corporations (TNCs) and buy their food on the world market. Over the last 20-30 years the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and more recently the WTO have forced countries to decrease investment in food production and to reduce support for peasant and small farmers. However, small farmers are the key food producers in the world. Major international donors have also shown a lack of interest in food production. Development cooperation from industrialized countries to developing countries went up from 20 billion USD in 1980 to 100 billion USD in 2007. However, support for agriculture went down from 17 billion dollar to 3 billion USD during the same time. And most of these funds probably did not go to peasant-based food production. (Click to get whole article)

" This 'Year Zero' mindset"

from Jesse Freeston of The Real News Network

Hello from Washington, DC.

Not going to take up much of your time, but here is my video report from El Salvador in response to Barack Obama´s announcement at the past weekend´s "Summit of the Americas(minus Cuba)" that: "I didn´t come here to debate the past, I came here to deal with the future." This 'Year Zero' mindset may charm North Americans, but as I hope the video demonstrates, in El Salvador, the past in many ways IS the present, and any attempt to move forward without attempting to understand it is futile. So many people are still dealing with the same problems (state violence and poverty, mostly) that they were then, with the same root causes. The piece also takes on the idea that the arrival of leftist governments in Latin America is the result of an international movement, or ´Pink Tide´ as the papers call it. This approach often leaves out the historical experience of each one of these countries, which most people I spoke to (many of which were included in the video) believe is the only explanation for why the left has come to power.

Hope that you like it. It´ll be on the front page (www.therealnews.com) for a few days, after that it will be at: http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=3587&updaterx=2009-04-20+07%3A53%3A24

Jesse.

Unions Agree on Path for Immigration Reform

Wednesday 15 April 2009

by: Anna Gorman | Visit article original @ The Los Angeles Times

A worker at a car wash in West Los Angeles. An investigation found that many hand car washes in Southern California violate basic labor and immigration laws. (Photo: Barbara Davidson / The Los Angeles Times)

The AFL-CIO and the Change to Win federation support the legalization of the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants and the creation of a panel to analyze the labor market's needs.

The nation's top two labor federations announced a framework Tuesday for comprehensive immigration reform, setting aside differences with the hope of pushing legislation through this year.

The agreement, supported by the AFL-CIO and the Change to Win federation, supports the legalization of the nation's 12 million undocumented immigrants and the formation of an independent commission to analyze the labor market's needs and assess shortages for the admission of future foreign workers. The unions oppose any new guest worker programs that would allow employers to bring foreigners in on a temporary basis.

(Link to the rest of the article)

FMLN Victory – A Glimmer of Hope for a Heavily Handicapped Salvadoran Future: COHA Monitor Observes Election

(from the Council On Hemispheric Affairs - written by Kira Vinke. Kira participated in the Sister Cities elections observation delegation in March.)

Mauricio Funes’ victory in the Salvadoran presidential election on March 15 marked what could be an important alteration in the country’s politics. After two decades of often fierce right-wing rule, the former guerrillas of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) defeated the incumbent Alianza Republicana Nacionalista (ARENA) with a respectable 51.3 percent majority of the vote. On June 1, Funes and his Vice President, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, will take over a country in a disastrous economic situation which is still haunted by its more than decade-old civil war and the years of failed governmental policies that followed it.

The Nature of the Victory
As of now, Funes is not the president. In fact, he is playing his cards very carefully as the president-elect, projecting an image at the present time as being cool on Hugo Chávez and warm on Obama. The niceties of Salvadoran internal politics may require this, but not necessarily the values of the average FMLN militant. Here is where the question remains: will the average rank-and-file FMLN voter be content with a ‘lite’ version of a president in the mould of Funes, or will they increasingly turn to the party’s vice President-elect Sanchez Ceren, as representing the true ethos of the party and incoming government?

During its 20 years in government, ARENA aspired and succeeded in being Washington’s best friend in Central America, adopting its neo-liberal economic plans and ultimately following it blindly into economic crisis. The new country consequently has not prospered and faces a growth rate of only one or two percent this year. Remittances from the U.S., which long have been the lifeline of the Salvadoran economy, are also at risk, since many Salvadoran immigrants in the U.S. face losing their jobs and some already are heading home. ARENA’s violence-streaked legacy will pose a challenge to the new administration, which will have to be aware of the opposition’s attempts to pass on the blame for El Salvador’s neo-liberal soaked predicaments to FMLN officials, who, of course, have not had time as of yet to be guilty. Most of these have in fact been passed on by a long series of heavy-handed right-wing orthodox ideologues.
(click to continue)

Obama to Begin Immigration Reform in 2009

Thursday 09 April 2009

by: Agence France-Presse
view source material:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hczQRcOvvhxPwpCiknnxO9bs0yng

photo
Illegal immigrants from Guatemala during deportation from the United States. (Photo: AFP)



New York - President Barack Obama aims to draft legislation this year allowing illegal immigrants to become legal citizens as part of a major overhaul of the US immigration system, the New York Times said Thursday.

"While acknowledging that the recession makes the political battle more difficult, President Obama plans to begin addressing the country's immigration system this year, including looking for a path for illegal immigrants to become legal," the Times reported, citing a senior administration official.

Obama will portray the effort as "policy reform that controls immigration and makes it an orderly system," said Cecilia Munoz, deputy assistant to the president and director of intergovernmental affairs in the White House.

"He intends to start the debate this year," Munoz told the Times.

As a US senator from Illinois, Obama in 2007 voted in favor of immigration reform and made it one of his top campaign issues, winning the key support of 66 percent of some 10 million registered Hispanic voters on election day.

A majority of new US immigrants are Hispanics from neighboring Mexico and also from across Central and South America.

Obama "plans to speak publicly about the issue in May... and over the summer he will convene working groups, including lawmakers from both parties and a range of immigration groups, to begin discussing possible legislation for as early as this fall," the New York Times report said.

The report cited US officials as saying "the Obama administration favors legislation that would bring illegal immigrants into the legal system by recognizing that they violated the law, and imposing fines and other penalties to fit the offense.

"The legislation would seek to prevent future illegal immigration by strengthening border enforcement and cracking down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, while creating a national system for verifying the legal immigration status of new workers," it added.

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Environmental Delegation to El Salvador



Notes on the Electoral Victory of the FMLN

from the Sister Cities Staff

Dear Sister Cities,

People have been asking us for in-depth analysis of capabilities and expectations for the Funes government in El Salvador, and here it is. This analysis comes highly recommended from Equipo Maiz economist Agosto Villalona. Enjoy...

In solidarity,

Sister Cities staff
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Notes on the Electoral Victory of the FMLN

By Agusto Sención Villalona


1. The triumph of the FMLN constitutes new progress of the revolutionary and progressive forces of Latin America. For the new government of the United States it is their first defeat, as they could not impede the overturning of the ultra-right [in El Salvador], organized in the ARENA party.

2. The Victory of the FMLN was due to the combination of two fundamental factors: the decision on the part of the majority of the population to defeat ARENA, and the weakness of the government of the United States, whose hegemony is declining in the world and above all in Latin America. The Salvadoran right, fraudulent and repressive, was afraid of the people and grew isolated in this continent, where the FMLN has the support of the majority of the governments and political parties, including many liberal right parties.

3. The victory of the FMLN is even more significant if one takes into account that this party overcame a fraudulent electoral system, where the right dominates the electoral tribunal and the National Registry of Natural Persons (under the control of the Executive Branch). The right wing refused to approve residential voting [voting by absentee ballot] and gave identity cards to people from other countries of the region to be able to vote in El Salvador. Moreover, even though the FMLN officially won by a margin of 2.6%, the political truth is different, as this party had the support of 60% of the voting population. The fraud carried out by the ARENA party reduced the margin of victory.

4. To characterize the new government that will begin on June 1, it is necessary to take into account that what has been won is simply the Executive Branch, and the right maintains its dominance in other branches and institutions of the State. We see:

- In the Legislative Branch the FMLN has 35 of the 84 seats and the right wing parties, together, control 47: ARENA has 32, the PCN has 10 and the PDC has 5. A party allied with the FMLN has 1 seat, and one other legislator was kicked out of the PCN party.

- In the Judicial Branch, of the 15 Magistrates of the Supreme Court, 12 are of the right wing. Soon 5 new judges will be elected, but this decision is in the hands of a congress (the Legislative Assembly) that is right wing in its majority. Although the minimum number of votes for their election is 56, the right has a greater possibility of imposing its judges, as they can if they with nullify the election, create a crisis in the justice apparatus and affect the image of the new government. The Attorney General of the Republic, who will soon end his term, will also be elected by the Congress, with at least 56 votes. Neither the FMLN or the right have the votes, but the right can nullify the election, in which case the second in command at the Attorney General’s office, linked to the ARENA party, would take up the role of Attorney General.

- In the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, composed by 5 people, the right will maintain three members, as they are elected by the following format: three are proposed by the three parties with the most votes (FMLN, ARENA and PCN) and two are elected by congress. Of the three first the right has two. And of those elected by the congress the right will receive at least one. This way they will continue to dominate the tribunal.

- The Accounts Court, in charge of investigating internal affairs and public corruption, can continue to be under the direction of the right, as the person who presides over this institution is elected by congress, ruled in its majority by the right.



5. The composition of these branches and institutions of the State means that the FMLN and President Mauricio Funes can only do what corresponds to the Executive Branch. It is important to be clear on this point, as there are voices on the ultra-left, nationally and internationally that are demanding the party and president elect to do things that they will not be able to do. And we must be clear that the FMLN government cannot govern behind the back of the Constitution, as this government is not product of an armed struggle that destroys an old State, nor an electoral victory in all branches of the State.

6. The government that Mauricio Funes will direct will implement an important part of his program, the part that is dependent of the Executive Branch. The measures that depend on other State institutions cannot be implemented. Let’s mention some:

- Modifying the tributary structure, and above all higher taxes on private business income, elevating the base levels exempt from income tax, raising tariffs on certain luxury imports and eliminating some loopholes that permit legal tax evasion. The approval or modification of taxes is done in congress, with a minimum of 43 votes, which the FMLN does not have.

- Taking another look at some of the privatizations. Neither the legislative nor judicial branches will facilitate this job.

- Repealing the general amnesty law approved in 1993 by the ex-president of ARENA, Alfredo Cristiani. This law was approved to protect members of ARENA and the Armed Forces named by the Peace Commission (created in the 1992 peace accords) as responsible for many of the crimes committed before and during the war.

- Other measures, such as undoing dollarization or annulling CAFTA, were not brought up by the FMLN and can not be implemented. The first one implies approving a law that grants the Central Bank the faculty to emit national currency and obliges the commercial banks to transfer their dollars to the Central Bank. This law would have to be approved by congress with a minimum of 43 votes. CAFTA can only be annulled or modified by common agreement between the parties that signed it: the governments of El Salvador and the United States.

7. Having established some of the limits to the new government, it is necessary to discuss what it can indeed do, with is considerable. Let’s see:

- Controlling tax evasion that big business carries out to the amount of nearly 2 billion dollars per year, equivalent to 60% of the national budget. If the government is successful in this job, it could elevate its income. It is probable that the government would try to reach a fiscal pact with big business, but it is not very probable that these businesses agree to pay much of what they evade. For this reason, the table of the fiscal pact should become a theater of national struggle around the issue of tax evasion. The people should pressure to gain access to the information regarding the amount of this evasion and for the businesses to pay the money that the law demands of them, much of which comes indirectly from the people themselves.

- Control some prices and tariffs of basic goods and services.

- Raise salaries in the public and private sectors.

- Subsidize, with some part of the new income, some basic services.

- Deposit in the state banks part of the national budget and convert the Bank of Agricultural Production (Banco de Fomento Agropecuario) in a development bank that guarantees credits to small rural production, both individual and cooperative, as well as micro and small enterprise in the cities. The deposits from municipalities governed by the FMLN should also be oriented toward the State banks, as well as social organizations and the population that supports the government.

- Incorporate into the Petrocaribe to achieve favorable conditions to pay for oil imported from Venezuela.

- Incorporate into the ALBA, to obtain benefits from the projects of cooperation that are included in said initiative, together with Venezuela, Cuba, Bolivia, Dominica, Nicaragua and Honduras.

- Substantially raise the public resources destined to the Institute of Women and approve and apply policies oriented toward reducing gender inequality

- Establish diplomatic relations with Cuba and broaden relations with the countries of South America, above all with the principal economies (Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela.)

- Legalize productive units of thousands of rural peasants that do not have property deeds. This decision is in the hands of the Institute of Agrarian Transformation (ISTA), who has not wanted to implement this.

- Expropriate property over the 245 hectare limit per owner established in article 105 of the Constitution. Many land owners break the law with the complicity of the current government. These lands and some state properties can be adjudicated to the rural population, that is of 300,000 people who principally produce basic grains (corn, sorghum, beans and rice) and to a lesser extent seasonal crops (vegetables, fruits, etc.) as well as raising farm animals, mostly for their own consumption. Parts of the rural population (64,000 people) belong to agricultural cooperatives, where basic grains are produced. Some of these also produce coffee or sugar cane.

- Augment the budget for the Ministry of Agriculture and the Environment, to support the reactivation of the agricultural sector and confront the grave environmental situation of the country.

- Develop a program of reactivation of the rural economy, with internal support and international cooperation. For this it would be necessary to give State lands, grant credits from the national bank, give some subsidies and agricultural input at low cost, as well as agricultural machinery and technical assistance (which could be obtained with help from Brazil, Argentina and Venezuela) and establish guaranteed prices for small producers. At the same time a literacy program could be developed, with the support of Cuba, to eradicate illiteracy, as was done in Venezuela and Bolivia, as well as a broad program of health, water and hygiene carried out with public and international funds.

- The reactivation of agriculture will allow the reduction of importation of food to confront the competition from agricultural production from the United States, which is subsidized and enjoys the benefits of CAFTA. In a moment that the crisis in the United States provokes a decrease in Salvadoran exportations and the remittances flowing back to the country, reducing importation is key to confront a possible scarcity of dollars. As well, the reactivation of the agricultural sector would raise employment and accessible food. In three years, the improvements in the level of quality of life of the rural population (40% of the total) would be a big hit to the right, which would lose a good part of the municipalities that it still governs.

- In the cities as well the quality of life of the population with the fewest resources can rise, if the government is successful in the reactivation of agriculture and lowering the cost of foods, eradicating illiteracy, creating projects of popular housing, improving water services and supplying medicines to hospitals, as well as granting credits and technical support to small business. Public investment and support of international organizations would permit these results. For this reason it is important to control tax evasion, incorporate into the ALBA and sign cooperation agreements with the principal economies of South America. The external support could also come from China. Of course, we are not looking for the external resources to become the basis of our economic rise and social improvement, rather a important complement, above all in the first years of the new government. In fact, they could be maintained throughout the full Funes administration if it is understood that this government constitutes the first phase of a process of change that begins in the country.

- Apply a program of attention to the street gangs, that includes employment, scholarships, and other actions of social reinsertion.

- Cleaning up the National Civilian Police and the security institutions of the State to diminish criminality and reduce the climate of insecurity of the population. The police must be changed into an institution in support of the people. The FMLN has the advantage of having incorporated into the police force part of its demobilized combatants, some of whom even possess intermediate roles of power. In the new government, the FMLN will have control of the principal structures of control, including the police chiefs.

- Channel a part of the funds for publicity toward the media (radio and newspaper) that are not controlled by big business. This is not simply upon a criteria of equality, also the need to confront the right in political and ideological struggle.

- Modify the educational texts, above all around the subjects of history, to combat the right, those responsible for the military dictatorships and death squads that assassinated tens of thousands of people during many years. In teaching history one must establish, among many other things, the death squad origins of the ARENA party and the responsibility of its founder, D’Aubisson, in the assassination of Archbishop Oscar Arnulfo Romero.



8. These are some of the measures that can be adopted by the Executive Branch. To make them effective it is necessary to orient the people adequately and gain support, above all in the case of those measures that will be strongly rejected by big business, such as the control of some prices and fiscal evasion, redistribution of the publicity costs of the government, the deposit of much of the government money in the state bank, and expropriation of lands as described in the constitution.



9. What will begin in El Salvador is an advanced reformist government, that will be able to redistribute wealth, improve quality of life for the population with the fewest resources and sectors of the middle class, democratize the State and reduce the political dependence, above all through an independent foreign policy. If this is achieved, it would be an important step in the transformation of the country. The FMLN could advance in the legislative and municipal elections of 2012 and obtain a victory in the presidential elections of 2014 and deepen its program in the following years.



10. The government that Funes leads will be of transition and accumulation to continue advancing in following years. That is how we must understand it. It is not an “anti-system” government, rather one of important social reforms and consolidation of the FMLN.



11. The local right and the government of the United States will forcefully confront the new government and will stimulate the minds of the ultra-left to try to debilitate the bases of the FMLN. When they reject some measures of this government they will do it with tenacity. At the same time they will say that Funes has good intentions and that the leadership of the FMLN wants to push forward an orthodox program. And as the government will be reformist, this supposition could generate discontent among a radicalized portion of the party, which is often victim of the “radical” tag, often from outside the FMLN.



12. To confront the tactics of the right, the militancy of the FMLN and the social forces of the left should avoid wrong turns. It would be a mistake to assume a passive role from the right, or demand the government to do things that it is unable to do. It is important to demand compliance with what has been promised, but taking into account the limitations of the next government, and the need to back it up in each moment.



Augusto Sención Villalona is a Dominican Economist who works for Equipo Maiz, in El Salvador.

No Money, No Gas, No Peace

April 2, 2009

by voicesfromelsalvador

Two days ago René Figueroa, the Minister of Justice and Public Security, announced that the National Civilian Police (PNC) is unable to cover many operational expenses due to lack of funds. This follows a rash of similar announcements in El Salavador’s public institutions and, more alarmingly, an increase in homicides. The 2008 average for daily homicides was 8.6, famously second only to Irak. In what goes of 2009, the average has grown to 11.6. January alone saw 372 murders; reaching 12 per day.dead-clownThis is grave news leading into Easter week vacations - a time when violence typically spikes. Last year’s Easter vacations totaled 83 homicides in 7 days (close the current 2009 daily average, 11.8). While the entire police force will be deployed for Easter week in what they have termed ‘Plan Protection’, there is little evidence that this will deter the tide of violence - especially if there’s no money to fill the tank.

photo by Ethan James

Victims of Abuses during Civil War Speak Out at International Tribunal

Victims of Abuses during Civil War Speak Out at International Tribunal
March 28, 2009 by voicesfromelsalvador

The International Tribunal for Restorative Justices opened a public forum for people who had suffered human rights abuses during El Salvador’s civil war. The three-day event was hosted at the Central American University as part of its Truth Festival, a week-long program in commemoration of the anniversary of Monseñor Romero’s assassination.

The testimonies heard by the Tribunal were powerful and disturbing. They narrated stories of incredible human suffering -death threats, tortures, disappearances, assassinations, scorched earth campaigns, massacres- all committed directly by or with the complicity of the Salvadoran Armed Forces.

Julio Rivera offered his testimony and told of how on March 11, 1980, at the age of 7, he witnessed the killing of his mother and three remaining siblings, because his mother had advocated for political prisoners. Only days later -in hiding with his father- he witnessed the massacre at the Sumpul River committed by Salvadoran military in collaboration with local paramilitary groups and the Honduran military. Thirteen members of his extended family were killed in the massacre.

There has been very little political will on the part of the Salvadoran government to address these atrocities. For many years, the Salvadoran government flatly denied their existence, or blamed them on the guerillas. In 1993, El Salvador passed an amnesty law, creating a significant barrier to even gathering information on the atrocities committed. Successive presidents, including president-elect Funes, have refused to repeal the amnesty law, saying it would re-open old wounds.

Rivera replies that that wounds have never closed. He declared that the wounds will heal only when the truth has been heard and acknowledged, and there is a true process of justice and reconciliation.

Mo(u)rning in El Salvador

By Roberto Lovato

This article appeared in the April 13, 2009 edition of The Nation.
March 26, 2009
http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090413/lovato

In Izalco, El Salvador, an idyllic but very poor village nestled under the gaze of the great volcano of the same name, I asked Juliana Ama to help me understand how the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), the guerrillas-turned-political-party, had managed to triumph over the Nationalist Republican Alliance (ARENA) in the presidential election on March 15, ending the right-wing party's twenty-year reign. Ama guided me to a dusty, football field-size dirt lot adjacent to a church. The 61-year-old schoolteacher said nothing at first, staring meditatively at a round spot blackened by a campfire or some burnt offering. Then she said simply, "It's our dead."

Her explanation lacked the revolutionary bravado and the análisis político heard from chain-smoking former guerrilla commanders and Facebook-using radical students in San Salvador, the capital. Instead, she threw open her arms and said, "Most of the people killed in the Matanza [the Great Killing] are buried here." Before us lay the remains of many of the 20,000 to 30,000 mostly indigenous Pipil-Nahuat killed in January 1932 on the orders of military dictator Maximiliano Hernández.

In slow, measured speech, Ama, one of a tiny fraction of Salvadorans who identify themselves as indigenous, explained how indigenous peasants like her great-great-granduncle, the peasant leader Feliciano Ama of Izalco, and others from the western coffee-growing part of El Salvador rose up against deadly poverty, stolen land and other abuses in Depression-era El Salvador, only to be brutally slaughtered.

"We've organized commemoration ceremonies on this spot since 2001," said Ama, as she pointed at the darkened patch on the lot. "People who can't remember and are silent are people who are submitted (sumisos). Those ceremonies made it normal and acceptable to be open about the loss of long ago, the loss that still lives with us. Nothing like this was ever possible before, and I think that the ceremony made it possible for people to start being more open about political feelings too."

My initial reason for visiting Izalco during the country's presidential election season was that I'd learned of ARENA's defeat in the Izalco mayoral race in January--the party's first defeat since it was founded in 1981 by Roberto D'Aubuisson, who also founded El Salvador's notorious death squads. The death squads, backed by the right-wing military government, were responsible for killing many of the 80,000 people who died during the bloody civil war of 1980-92.

The FMLN's recent victory in small, neglected Izalco--after campaigning on a message of change backed by a coalition of Catholics, students and evangelicals--had political analysts buzzing about how it might herald a national trend in the lead-up to the historic presidential election. Even some ARENA loyalists I interviewed quoted D'Aubuisson's prophetic maxim: "The day we lose Izalco, that day will be the end of the party."

In Izalco it became clear how Ama's explanation of the FMLN's victory aligned perfectly with the central lesson of revolutionary political warfare that some former Salvadoran guerrilla commanders told me they'd learned in Russia, Vietnam and other Communist-bloc countries in the 1960s and '70s: the spirit of the people matters most. The power that broke the chain of oligarchies and military dictatorships that shackled El Salvador for 130 years was the will of the people to break their silence.

Few embody this will to break the silence like Mauricio Funes, the FMLN candidate and the first leftist elected president in the history of El Salvador.

Funes, a 49-year-old former journalist, rose to prominence in no small part thanks to the democratic space created by the signing of the peace accords ending the war in 1992. Until then, the seventy-year rule of oligarchs and dictators made freedom of expression a rarity. My first memories of Funes are as the talk-show host and commentator my family in San Salvador would listen to in the late '80s as they huddled around a small, battered black-and-white television set during their lunch breaks.

As the grip of state military-run television loosened in the postwar period, Funes became the country's most popular TV personality in his role as host of Entrevista al Dia (Interview of the Day), El Salvador's equivalent of Meet the Press.

Hosting al Dia, on which he grilled and debated left- and right-leaning guests with his famously mercurial intelligence, helped to make Funes a symbol of the openness ushered in by the signing of the peace accords. After losing every presidential race since laying down its arms to become a political party in 1992, the FMLN embraced change. With the help of people like Funes's mentor Hato Hasbun--a sociology professor who worked closely with the six Jesuit priests killed by the military during the FMLN offensive in 1989--the party finally recognized that putting up presidential candidates who were former guerrilla commanders or wartime opposition leaders might not be the best strategy for winning over an electorate trying to overcome the war's painful legacy. The party chose Funes, who was neither a combatant nor a member of the FMLN during the war.

In doing so, the former guerrillas gave their party a much-needed upgrade that allowed them to use the FMLN's legendary organizational capacity (during the war, the US State Department called the FMLN one of the "best organized" and "most effective" people's movements in Latin America in the last fifty years) to meet the political requirements of the media age. And as a Jesuit-influenced intellectual, Funes also gave the FMLN--an organization with many leaders who were themselves profoundly influenced by liberation theology and first organized in Christian base communities--some ideological comfort.

When I interviewed Funes on the night of his victory, in the restaurant of a San Salvador hotel, the first thing he did was echo the thinking of one of those who courageously broke El Salvador's silence. "Now we need a government like the one envisioned by [Archbishop of El Salvador] Óscar Arnulfo Romero, who, in his prophetic message, said that the church should have a preferential option for the poor. Paraphrasing Monseñor Romero, I would say that this government should have a preferential option for the poor, for those who need a robust government to get ahead and to be able to compete in this world of disequilibrium under fair conditions."

Like almost every Salvadoran I spoke with after Funes's victory, the candidate said he wished a deceased family member, in his case his brother killed during the war, was with him to share the moment.

And like Juliana Ama, he too rooted his victory in the legacy of silence and struggle from Izalco: "Our history--what happened in 1932, the poverty of the '70s that caused the armed conflict in the '80s and the state in which many in the countryside like Izalco still find themselves today--these can be explained fundamentally by the unjust distribution of wealth, the use of the government to support the process of concentrating wealth."

After talking with Funes at the hotel, I went to the Escalon neighborhood, where those who have benefited from the concentration of the country's wealth live and do business behind the big, heavily guarded walls of gated buildings and fortressed mansions. For reasons I don't know, but imagine have something to do with poetic justice, the FMLN decided to hold its massive victory celebration that Sunday night on Escalon Boulevard.

The neighborhood was also where the FMLN launched its offensive on San Salvador in 1989. After the demise of Communism put in doubt the survival of Latin American revolutionary movements, including El Salvador's, the FMLN made a strategic decision to bring its guerrilla army of young men and women and older adults, some of whom had little to no combat experience, into the capital, leading to some of the bloodiest battles of the war.

I walked along the crowded blocks of the Escalon with my good friend Joaquin Chávez, a fellow in the NYU history department, who founded the first Central American studies program in the United States with three other colleagues and me. Passing by Citibank and Scotiabank, OfficeMax, McDonald's and other corporate buildings on the Escalon never felt so exhilarating. The major difference was the hundreds of thousands of boisterously happy, red-shirted, mostly poor children, youth and families waving homemade red-and-white FMLN flags.

For his part, my bookish, bespectacled historian friend Joaquin, who had lost many friends and family members during the war, was initially pretty academic about what the electoral victory meant.

"The origins of the war were not ideological. What brought on the armed struggle," began Joaquin, whose current research looks at the role of intellectuals in the origins of the war, "was the reaction of various groups to the repression of the state. If the government had allowed fair elections in 1972 and 1977, there would have been no war." His voice started to crack slightly with emotion. "And that's what makes tonight so hope-inspiring: it makes possible a political transition through legal and electoral means."

Watching the wave of thousands of mostly young FMLN supporters walk, sing and dance as they held handpainted signs with messages like Misión Cumplida: Compañeros Caídos en La Lucha (Mission Accomplished: Compañeros Who Fell in the Struggle), Joaquin reminisced, not as the accomplished historian but as the former guerrilla leader: "I remember being here on Seventy-fifth Street (during the 1989 offensive) to pick up the bodies of dead and injured young combatants. They were the ages of these kids walking here now."

He continued: "Tonight I feel like they didn't die for nothing. Spiritually, it feels like a weight has been taken off of you, where you feel the absence of those who initiated these processes. This is an explosion of happiness and a celebration of rebellion, a triumph of the 1932 rebellion of Feliciano Ama and the indigenous people."

Back at the empty lot, near the blackened patch of dirt that is ground zero of revolutionary El Salvador, Juliana Ama pondered the escape from silence her country had begun. Despite the threats the commemoration ceremonies provoked, she said, "our ceremony is not intended as a political act. It is first and foremost a spiritual act. We have no choice; we can't remain and suffer in silence." Her eighth-grader son, Alex Oswaldo Calzadia Chille, stood solemnly nearby.

Asked what he thought the political turns in his country portended, the rather reticent, dark-skinned 14-year-old star student, soccer forward and drummer at the Mario Calvo school responded with an unexpected forcefulness. "I'm Pipil (Indian). Feliciano Ama, he's my family and was killed defending the land against the government, like many people do today." As if he'd been waiting for the opportunity to speak even more, he declared, "My family voted for the FMLN because they wanted change." His intense brown eyes alive with the energy one imagines his rebellious ancestor had, Alex added, "When I'm old enough, so will I."


About Roberto Lovato
Roberto Lovato, a frequent Nation contributor, is a New York-based writer with New America Media.
* Copyright © 2008 The Nation

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090413/lovato