Tuesday, September 29, 2009

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)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

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

Sunday, September 20, 2009

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

Crisis in Honduras.
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)

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

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

Thursday, September 03, 2009

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