Media coverage of the International Month of Action
SEPT: 5th: Sidney and Melbourne, Australia
MUA: MUA Calls for Australian Resources Company to Drop Law Suit
Trade union officials are calling on all unionists, environmentalists and anyone with a social conscience to support the people of El Salvador in their sovereign right to dictate land use in their Central American country.
Demotix – Photo Gallery: Maritime Union Australia stage Sydney rally over OceanaGold lawsuit
A rally was held at the World Bank Offices in Martin Place, Sydney by the Maritime Union Australia for OceanaGold Corporation to drop its lawsuit against El Salvador for not granting it a mining license. Anti-mining activists and unionists deliver a letter to the World Bank Office in Martin Place, Sydney demanding OceanaGold to drop its lawsuit against El Salvador for not granting it a mining license.
Green Left: Australian company sues El Salvador for right to mine
People gathered outside the World Bank office in Sydney on September 5 to protest the bank’s involvement in an Australian mining company’s attempt to sue the government of El Salvador for US$301 million.
Mining News: MUA joins fresh OceanaGold protests
The Maritime Union of Australia is joining a global day of action today, opposing OceanaGold’s continued legal action against the El Salvador government. The nation is being sued in a World Bank tribunal after it failed to grant a mining permit to OceanaGold subsidiary Pacific Rim.
MUA WebFactional: Australian NGOs Tell World Bank Put Human Rights First and Sever Ties With Investor State Tribunal
Australian unions, fair trade advocates and environmentalist gathered today (22.03.13) in front of the Sydney offices of the World Bank at noon on Friday to protest the Bank’s affiliation with the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a tribunal that hears corporate lawsuits seeking to bypass national courts, laws and regulations setting local standards for health, human rights and the environment.
New Zealand
Radio New Zealand National: OceanaGold case worries TPP opponents
The mining company which owns the Reefton, Macraes and Frasers gold mines in the South Island, is suing the country of El Salvador after it was refused a mining permit to dig for gold there.
Sept 10th – Toronto, Canada
Rabble: Groups demand Canadian mining company drop suit against El Salvador
At a rally Wednesday, organizations from Canada, El Salvador and around the world confronted Canadian-Australian mining company Oceana Gold, whose subsidiary is suing El Salvador for $301 million (USD).
Listen to speeches from the rally. Speakers included Maude Barlow - Council of Canadians, Raul Burbano - Fommon Frontiers, Monica Gutiérrez and Rachel Small - Mining Injustice Solidarity Network (MISN), Ivan - Latin American and Caribbean solidarity network (LACSN, Xenia Marroquin - Foro del Agua a ASPRODE, El Salvador and Mary Ann Manahan - Focus on the Global South, Philippines.
Huffington Post Canada: Don't Let Oceana Gold Jeopardize El Salvador's Democracy and Drinking Water
In anticipation of next week's court case, to be heard on Monday, September 15 at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, D.C., the Council of Canadians, the Latin American Solidarity Network, the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network and others will descend on the company's Toronto headquarters to present a letter from people affected by the decision. The letter demands that the company withdraw the lawsuit.
Redeye Coop Radio interview: Interview with Jamie Kneen, Mining Watch
http://www.coopradio.org/content/redeye-611(the interview starts about 20 minutes into the show)
CHRY News: OceanaGold/Pacific Rim Protest
YORK COMMUNITY REPORT: Canadian/Australian mining company, OceanaGold- known for their human rights abuses abroad, has been involved in a 300 million dollar lawsuit with the small country of el Salvador for the country’s refusal to allow the company to mine there. This lawsuit is being tried by a world bank tribunal on September 15th in Washington DC by the international centre for the settlement of investment disputes. James Kneen of Mining watch Canada joined News Now to discuss the lawsuit and ongoing conflict as well as a protest that happened at 1st Canadian Place in downtown Toronto, on September 10th. Maggie Reid has that report.
Toronto Media Coop: Interview with Jamie Kneen, Mining Watch
Host and Producer Maggie Reid spoke with Jamie Kneen of Mining Watch Canada about Oceana Gold, a Canadian/Australian mining company known for their human rights abuses abroad. We spoke about Oceana Gold's 300 million dollar lawsuit with the El Salvador government for not allowing the company to access gold deposits in the northern part of the country.
September 10th - Spanish
Radio Canada International: Protesta en Canadá contra la minera OceanaGold
Este miércoles 10 de septiembre, en el centro de Toronto, decenas de manifestantes pidieron a la empresa minera australiana-canadiense OceanaGold que retire su demanda legal contra el país centroamericano de El Salvador.
September 15th- Washington, DC
The Washington Post: Protesters in D.C. ask for halt to gold mining in El Salvador, say it will endanger ecology.
Calling gold mining a scourge on the environment of El Salvador, a group of protesters rallied Monday outside the World Bank in the District, where a tribunal is discussing the case of a foreign company that seeks to extract gold from the impoverished Central American country.
Inter Press Services: World Bank Tribunal Weighs Final Arguments in El Salvador Mining Dispute
WASHINGTON, Sep 16 2014 (IPS) - A multilateral arbitration panel here began final hearings Monday in a contentious and long-running dispute between an international mining company and the government of El Salvador.
Reuters: Protesters back El Salvador for denying gold mining permit
WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Protesters rallied on Monday to demand that a World Bank tribunal reject an international mining company’s claim for $300 million from El Salvador over denial of a gold mining license.
Think Progress: Shadowy Tribunal Will Decide Whether El Salvador Can Protect Itself From Mining Companies
WASHINGTON, DC — Does a corporation’s right to profit trump a country’s right to protect its land and water?
That was the question today before the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an obscure tribunal housed within the World Bank in Washington, DC. At a hearing closed to the press and the public, the gold mining company OceanaGold claimed the government of El Salvador owes them hundreds of millions of dollars for denying them a permit to excavate in an ecologically sensitive region.
Foreign Policy in Focus and the Nation, The Epoch Times: The Fight to Keep Toxic Mining—and the World Bank—Out of El Salvador
For miners, investors, and artisans, few things are more precious than gold. But for human life itself, nothing is more precious than water.
Just ask the people of El Salvador.
Nearly 30 years ago, the Wisconsin-based Commerce Group Corp purchased a gold mine near the San Sebastian River in El Salvador and contaminated the water. Now, according to Lita Trejo, a native Salvadoran and school worker in Washington, DC, the once clear river is orange. The people who drink from the arsenic-polluted river, she says, are suffering from kidney failure and other diseases.
Xinhua News –Photo Gallery: U.S. people protest against OceanaGold and its subsidiary Pacific Rim
People from environmental groups, labor unions and other citizen groups stage a protest against OceanaGold and its subsidiary Pacific Rim, which is suing the government of El Salvador for not granting it a mining permit, at Edward R Murrow Park in front of the World Bank in Washington D.C., capital of the United States, Sept. 15, 2014. Pacific Rim and El Salvador's government will present their cases at hearings beginning on Sept. 15, which is El Salvador's Independence Day, at the World Bank's International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.(Xinhua/Bao Dandan)
Hispanic Link: OUTSIDE THE WORLD BANK PROTESTERS DISPUTE MINING AND WATER POLLUTION IN EL SALVADOR
WASHINGTON — A case being heard behind the doors of the World Bank may decide whether millions living in El Salvador may be forced to find a way to survive without a drinkable water source.
In the case, which held its first hearing Monday in Washington, members of the World Bank Group’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes will decide whether
Council of Canadians: Barlow in solidarity with El Salvador at protest against World Bank in Washington, DC
Council of Canadians chairperson Maude Barlow spoke at a protest outside the World Bank in Washington, DC today.
As explained by the Institute for Policy Studies, "OceanaGold/Pacific Rim Mining Corporation is suing the government of El Salvador for over $300 million because El Salvador is refusing to let it mine gold. ...Because of trade and investment laws that the U.S. has championed in recent decades, corporations can sue governments when corporations feel their future profits are being threatened by government actions.
OXFAM: Salvadorans rally at the World Bank to celebrate independence
Salvadoran communities living in the DC area celebrated the 193rd anniversary of independence of El Salvador in front of the World Bank on Monday. Why did they decide to forego their Monday obligations and gather in downtown DC?
CISPES: Salvadorans And Allies Protest $300 Million Mining Lawsuit On Independence Day
On September 15, as Central American nations celebrated Independence Day, the Salvadoran community in Washington, DC hit the streets outside the World Bank to protest the OceanaGold mining corporation’s $301 million lawsuit against the government of El Salvador (Check out news coverage here from the Washington Post and Inter-Press Service).
AFL-CIO: More Than 100 Workers, Environmentalists and Activists Came Out to Tell Oceana Gold/Pacific Rim That El Salvador Is Not for Sale
Last week, more than 100 people gathered outside the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), which is housed in the World Bank in Washington, D.C. Inside, three individuals sat down to decide whether or not the government of El Salvador will be forced to hand over $300 million to a mining corporation for prioritizing community needs and clean water over a gold mine.
London Review of Books:When Mining Firms Sue
Pacific Rim is suing the El Salvador government for $301 million for refusing a gold mining permit. To make the original claim in 2009, it shifted its HQ from the Cayman Islands to benefit from the ISDS clause in a US trade agreement. When this was rejected, it moved the claim to the World Bank’s tribunal, which begins its secret hearing of the case today. According to El Salvador’s rejoinder, Pacific Rim never complied with the requirements for a mining permit in the first place, preferring to rely on lobbying of government ministers.
Counterpunch:Clean Water as An Impediment to Corporate Profits
An Australian mining company insists its “right” to a guaranteed profit is superior to the right of El Salvador to clean drinking water — and an unappealable World Bank secret tribunal will decide if that is so.
Upsidedown world:World Bank Tribunal Weighs Final Arguments in El Salvador Mining Dispute
Washington - (IPS) - A multilateral arbitration panel here began final hearings Monday in a contentious and long-running dispute between an international mining company and the government of El Salvador.
An Australian mining company, OceanaGold, is suing the Salvadoran government for refusing to grant it a gold-mining permit that has been pending for much of the past decade. El Salvador, meanwhile, cites national laws and policies aimed at safeguarding human and environmental health, and says the project would threaten the country’s water supply.
ZIE NL: USA: DC protest demands halt to gold mining in El Salvador(Video clip)
Dozens of environmental activists gathered outside the World Bank on H Street in Washington, D.C., Monday, to protest against the pollution of water in El Salvador as a result of gold mining.
Around 20 organisations such as Case de Maryland, Centre for International Law and Oxfam America gathered in solidarity with the people of El Salvador, calling gold mining a "scourge" on the country's environment. Representatives of the “Saint Camillus” Franciscan Church in Springfield, one of the largest community of El Salvadorans in the USA, also joined the protest.
Sept. 15th - SPANISH
Terra: Entidades denuncian proceso contra El Salvador ante el Banco Mundial
Organizaciones de la sociedad civil pidieron este lunes en Washington el fin del proceso que la empresa australo-canadiense Pacific Rim inició ante el Banco Mundial contra El Salvador por no haber conseguido un permiso para explotación de una mina de oro.
El Confidencial: Protestan ante BM para que rechace denuncia de empresa minera a El Salvador
Washington, 15 sep (EFECOM).- Cerca de un centenar de manifestantes se concentraron hoy ante el Banco Mundial (BM) para exigir al organismo que rechace la denuncia millonaria de la empresa minera canadiense-australiana Oceana Gold contra El Salvador por negarle el permiso para explotar una mina de oro en el norte del país.
El Diario de Hoy: Protestas frente al Banco Mundial en contra de compañía
La inmigrante salvadoreña, Lita Trejo, agarró el micrófono en una improvisada tarima frente al Banco Mundial en la Calle Pensilvania, en Washington, para denunciar que sus parientes residentes en la zona de Santa Rosa de Lima, en La Unión, cerca de la mina de San Sebastián, no volvieron a recuperar el río que irrigaba la zona a causa de la minería.
Telemundo Atlanta: Protestan ante BM para que rechace denuncia de empresa minera a El Salvador
Washington, 15 sep (EFEUSA).- Cerca de un centenar de manifestantes se concentraron hoy ante el Banco Mundial (BM) para exigirle que rechace la denuncia millonaria de la empresa minera canadiense-australiana Oceana Gold contra El Salvador por negarle el permiso para explotar una mina de oro en el norte del país.
Este lunes comenzó la audiencia final a puerta cerrada del proceso judicial ante el BM iniciado en 2009 y cuya resolución final se espera para comienzos del próximo año.
Hola Ciudad: Protestan en frente del Banco Mundial
Activistas locales protestan frente al Banco Mundial en el día de la independencia de El Salvador.
"Hoy estamos aquí protestando en contra del banco mundial porque la compañía minera OceanaGold ha demandado a nuestro pueblo de El Salvador porque ellos quieren seguir robando el oro y los minerales de nuestro país," dijo Lindolfo Carballo, Representante, CASA de Virginia.
IPS Noticias: El CIADI dirime demanda de empresa minera contra El Salvador
WASHINGTON, 16 sep 2014 (IPS) - El Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias relativas a Inversiones (CIADI), adscrito al Banco Mundial, comenzó a escuchar los argumentos finales en una demanda por 300 millones de dólares que una empresa minera internacional interpuso contra el gobierno de El Salvador.
La compañía minera australiana OceanaGold demandó al gobierno salvadoreño en 2009 porque este no le concedió un permiso de extracción de oro pendiente desde 2002. El Salvador basa su argumento en leyes y políticas nacionales destinadas a proteger la salud y el ambiente, y asegura que el proyecto minero pondría en peligro el abastecimiento de agua del país centroamericano.
Telesur Video: Protestan en EE.UU. contra minera por reclamos hacia El Salvador
En un Tribunal del Banco Mundial iniciaron las audiencias para decidir si el Estado salvadoreño debe pagar 301 millones de dólares de indemnización a una minera a la que se le impidió operar. En Estados Unidos, se realizaron protestas en rechazo a esta medida. teleSUR
RT News Video: "Tienen derecho a beber agua limpia" Protestas en EEUU paea apoyar a El Salvador
En EE.UU. se inicia la etapa final del juicio que interpuso la minera Pacific Rim contra El Salvador. La disputa se debe a que el Gobierno salvadoreño prohibió a la compañía explorar una mina de oro y plata debido al impacto ambiental.
Sept 18th Canada
MiningWatch, Council of Canadians:Ottawa Groups Ask Australian High Commissioner to Support El Salvador over Mining Conflict with Australian Firm, OceanaGold
(Ottawa, Sept. 18, 2014) On Thursday, a group of Ottawa-based organizations wrote a letter urging the Australian High Commissioner to work with the Australian government and pressure Melbourne-based OceanaGold to drop its $301 million lawsuit against El Salvador. Hearings on the suit began this week at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington.
The Philippines
Bulalat, Piplinks-Philippine Indigenous Peoples Links: Philippine environmentalists, indigenous people protest OceanaGold mine for ‘deception, displacement, and destruction
“Bautista noted that OceanaGold was a consistent environmental criminal throughout its different projects across the globe. It has even figured in the filing of a USD $301 million lawsuit against the government of El Salvador in South America when the government ruled to deny OceanaGold’s mining permit for failing to comply with community and environment regulations.
El Salvador World Bank protest: Sept 17th
Millenium: El Salvador: Protesta contra el Banco Mundial
El tribunal arbitral del Centro Internacional de Arreglos Relativos a Inversiones (CIADI), se encuentra revisando el caso en donde el estado salvadoreño podría pagar más 300 millones de dólares por impedir que la empresa Pacific Rim, haga explotación minera en El Salvador.
Diario La Gaceta: Marcos Gálvez: “Deben saber que al país solo le dejan (las empresas mineras) el 2% de sus ganancias”
Diario La Gaceta entrevistó a Marcos Gálvez, representante de la Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica, para conocer de primera mano la lucha que esta organización está llevando a cabo para prohibir que se ejerza la minería en nuestro país por el alto nivel de contaminación que dejan esas prácticas, los graves obstáculos a los que se han enfrentado y que piden al Gobierno central con respecto a este caso.
Published before the actions:
OtherWords, TruthOut and fpif.org : Meet the Company Suing El Salvador for the Right to Poison Its Water
An obscure tribunal housed at the World Bank in Washington, D.C. will soon decide the fate of millions of people. At issue is whether a government should be punished for refusing to let a foreign mining company operate because it wants to protect its main source of water.
Triple Crisis Blog:Rigged rules a rogue corporation in the World Bank’s rogue tribunal
On September 15, in a tribunal that few know exists, the fate of millions of people and hundreds of millions of dollars will be debated and decided in the next six months.
The tribunal is the World Bank Group’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). It sits in downtown Washington, D.C., behind security guards at the World Bank. At issue is the future of El Salvador, some 2,000 miles away, where a global mining company—Pacific Rim, now owned by Australian/Canadian corporation OceanaGold—wants to mine gold in ways that could well poison the river system serving over half the Salvadoran population.
The Hill:It's time for Congress to investigate corporations, again
Large corporations are paying too little in taxes and too much in campaign contributions. The top Wall Street banks have again become too big to fail. Walmart, ExxonMobil and others of the top 10 corporations boast larger revenues than most countries' economies.
And, if that weren't enough, corporations have gained extraordinary powers through trade and investment agreements to sue governments, often to override vital social and environmental protections that governments have put in place. Case in point: Next week, a mining firm is bringing the government of El Salvador to trial here in Washington for actions that the government took to protect its people and its environment.
Oxfam: Inside a secret hearing at a foreign tribunal, El Salvador awaits a verdict
Next week in Washington DC, right along Pennsylvania Avenue, decisions about El Salvador’s future will be made behind closed doors – almost 2,000 miles away from the Central American country.
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