News

Oxfam Context of Pac Rim

Details

Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold

Published: Wednesday, 29 February 2012 11:27

A BRIEF CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS OF THE LEGAL SUIT OF PACIFIC RIM MINING COMPANY AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF EL SALVADOR

Andrés McKinley, Oxfam America

06/09

Metallic mining in Central America:

In the past several years in Central America, mineral extraction, especially of gold, silver and nickel, has increased dramatically in the face of rising commodity prices on the world market and neoliberal reforms designed to attract foreign investment. Mining has existed in the region since pre-hispanic times, but more than 90% of existing concessions have been granted since the year 2000.  Reliable data on mining in the region is difficult to access, but it is generally agreed that more than 30% of the region´s territory is now under concession to transnational corporations, in the majority Canadian, for the exploration and/or exportation of minerals.  In spite of these numbers, the mining industry contributes little to national economies, paying royalties of between 1% and 2%, contributing less than 1% of GNP and generating less than .2% of employment. 

Important deposits of gold and other minerals have been discovered throughout Central America in concentrations that have become economically viable to mine (between 1 and 10 grams per ton), given the dramatic rise in the price of these commodities.  The relatively low concentration of minerals, however, requires the application of technologies that are highly damaging to the environment and generate high social and cultural costs.  Processing of a single ounce of gold (the size of a finger ring) can require the removal of up to twenty tons of rock.  In the process, forestlands, mountains (sacred to Mayan peoples) and landscapes are destroyed.

 The mining of metals requires exorbitant quantities of water, a commodity that mining companies rarely pay for.  It is calculated that the Marlin Mine in the department of San Marcos in Guatemala uses 250 thousand liters of water per hour and indigenous communities around the mine have reported that in the two years since this mine began operating, over 40 community wells have dried up.  The Fenix Project, a nickel mine on the shores of Lake Izabal in Guatemala, is scheduled to utilize 16 million liters of water per day,  the equivalent of the entire volume of this lake (the largest in Guatemala) every 19 days.  In the Siria Valley of Honduras, a cattle-raising area and producer of basic grains, 8 years of gold mining have dried up 19 of the valley´s original 23 rivers.

 Apart from the exorbitant use of water, independent studies have demonstrated that metallic mining  in Central America has contaminated surface and ground waters with cyanide and heavy metals in Guatemala (Tzala River in San Marcos), El Salvador (San Sebastian River in La Union), Honduras (Valle de Siria, Valle de Angeles, Valle de San Andrés) and Nicaragua (Bambara River on the Atlantic Coast).

Metallic mining in Central America is destroying traditional livelihoods based on small scale agriculture, fishing and cattle- raising.  It also threatens important sectors of national economies, such as tourism and agro-exportation. In the face of this reality, key sectors of society, including environmental groups, NGOs, affected communities, the Catholic Church and important members of the business community, are demanding legislative reform in an effort to prohibit open pit mining, the use of cyanide and other toxic chemicals and to assure the rights of affected communities to free, prior, informed consent (FPIC).  In some countries, like El Salvador and Costa Rica, bills have been introduced prohibiting all forms of metallic mining.

A variety of civil society actors in all of the countries of the region are building broad based alliances to advance these policy agendas in the pursuit of sustainable development models for the region and the respect of basic rights.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

The case of El Salvador:

The rapid and aggressive incursion of foreign mining companies in El Salvador is particularly worrisome.  This small country, with a geographical area of only 21,000 square kilometers and the highest population density in the western hemisphere (approximately 300 people per km2) has no sparsely populated or remote areas in the country appropriate for mining.   The country also suffers from the worst levels of environmental degradation in the Americas, after Haiti.  Over 95% of original forests have been destroyed by over population, logging and intensive agriculture.  Over 90% of surface water is already contaminated with industrial waste and heavy metals and, according to a recent report by the Salvadoran Foundation for Development (FUSADES), the water table has diminished by 20% in the past 23 years and continues to drop at an alarming rate.   A World Bank study released in 2007 concluded that environmental degradation and pollution were costing the country approximately $500 million per year.

Pacific Rim:

 According to its web site: Pacific Rim Mining Corp. is a gold exploration company in the process of advancing its high grade El Dorado gold project in El Salvador. The Company focuses its exploration efforts on epithermal gold deposits in the Americas because of their typically high gold and silver grades, low environmental risk and propensity to occur in veins that can be mined underground. Environmental stewardship and social responsibility are core values of the Company…

The El Dorado gold project in El Salvador is Pacific Rim's flagship exploration asset and has received the bulk of the Company's exploration efforts over the past 7 years. El Dorado is an advanced-stage gold project with high-grade gold and silver resources. Pacific Rim's other exploration projects include the Santa Rita and Zamora-Cerro Colorado gold projects in El Salvador and a number of very early stage grassroots properties elsewhere in Central America. Pacific Rim maintains a generative program focusing on gold projects in the Americas that have the potential to enhance the Company's growth profile…  

Pacific Rim Mining Corp has offices in Vancouver, Canada, Reno, Nevada and Sensuntepeque, El Salvador. The Company's shares trade on both the Toronto (TSX) and NYSE Amex exchanges under the symbol PMU.” ( see web site: www Pacific Rim.com).

 Pacific Rim´s flagship project, El Dorado, in the municipality of San Isidro, department of Cabañas, has been the site of gold mining since colonial times.  In more recent history, it was owned and mined by the New York based El Salvador Mining Company, subsidiary of Rosario Mining (1948-1953).  Between 1993 and 2002, the project was under exploration by the Mirage mining company.  Dayton Mining Corporation acquired the project in 2002, investing $13 million in its development.  During that same year, Pacific Rim and Dayton Mining fused and ownership of El Dorado passed to Pacific Rim.

In the year 2004, Pacific Rim presented its Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) to the Ministry of Natural Resources of El Salvador and in December of that year the company formally applied for a license to exploit gold and silver.  In 2005, the Ministry of Natural Resources presented a series of observations on the EIS to Pacific Rim, and Pacific Rim responded in an effort to resolve the concerns put forth by the ministry.  The company had suffered a series of multi-million dollar losses for several years running (see Pacific Rim web site) and the El Dorado project became essential to its survival.  In the face of rising opposition from civil society organizations and growing concerns on the part of the Salvadoran government, however, the latter decided to postpone the approval of all further mining concessions in the country until a Strategic Environmental Study could be carried out at the national level.  In response to the continued delays in the approval of its application for a license to exploit, Pacific Rim announced in 2008 its intent to sue the Salvadoran government for “indirect expropriation” in the context of Chapter 10 of CAFTA.  On April 30^th of 2009, Pacific Rim took its case to the International Center for the Settlement of Investment disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank.

 The Environmental Impact Study of Pacific Rim:

 The Environmental Impact Assessment on the El Dorado mining project, presented by Pacific Rim to the government of El Salvador in 2004, is central to the government´s decision to postpone and later deny a permit to exploit gold and silver in San Isidro.  It was a document of over a thousand pages.  Some portions were in English.  The affected populations of Cabañas were not allowed to photocopy or remove the document from the Ministry of Natural Resources and they had only 10 days to present their objections to the project. 

 In a “Technical Revision” of the EIA prepared in October of 2005 by hidrogeologist and geochemist, Robert E. Moran, Ph.D, an expert in mining with over 30 years of experience with US government regulatory bodies, with mining companies and as an independent consultant on mining and the environment, the following weaknesses were documented:

• The Environmental Impact Assessment of the El Dorado project was found lacking in adequate studies to determine base line data related to water quantity and quality.  It was found especially weak in areas related to water tables.  The study simply states that there will be no significant impact on water resources without presenting any factual basis for this claim.
• The process of consultation with affected communities was clearly lacking in terms of levels of participation and transparency. 
• The basic data of the EIA was poorly organized and poorly summarized for general consumption.
• Independent sources of information and analysis were lacking.
• The EIA ignored a series of threats to the environment common to many other similar mining projects around the world.
• The real cost of water as a commodity was ignored.

In conclusion, Doctor Moran stated that the EIA of Pacific Rim would not be acceptable for regulatory bodies in the majority of developed nations, including the US and Canada (see Revisión Téncia del Proyecto Minero El Dorado Estudio de Impacto Ambiental (EIA), El Salvador, 19 de Octubre, 2005).

Mining and the threat of violence in El Salvador:

Seventeen years after the end of the bloody civil war in El Salvador, the country remains highly polarized.  Communities struggling with this reality and attempting to reconstruct their lives in harmony find themselves again threatened by confrontation and violence from the moment that a mining project inserts itself into community life.  Individual family members are pitted against each other, as they often were during the war. Entire communities enter into conflict with neighboring communities and the citizenry in general finds itself in growing confrontation with local and national authorities.

An opinion poll on metallic mining in El Salvador was conducted in 24 municipalities affected by mining in the northern portion of the country in 2007.  The study was carried out by the highly accredited Instituto Universitario de Opnión Pública  (IUDOP) of the Central American University.  Among the key findings of the study:

• 80% of those polled considered that mining in El Salvador would have a grave impact on water;
• 85% of those polled felt that mining would be harmful to the environment;
• 67% of those polled expressed the view that mining would contribute little or nothing to  development in their municipality;
• 85% of those polled expressed “no interest” in working for a mining project;
• 70% of those polled were opposed to initiating a mining project in their municipality;
• 70% of those polled felt that mining would have a detrimental impact on the lives of their children and grandchildren;
• 62.5% of those polled expressed the view that El Salvador is not an appropriate country for mining.  (See:” Encusta Sobre Conocimientos y Percepciones Hacia la Minería en Zonas Afectadas  por la Incursión Minera en El Salvador”, IUDOP, Octubre, 2007.

It is important to note that this poll was conducted in the midst of a highly aggressive propaganda campaign by Pacific Rim which filled the airwaves of El Salvador for more than six months in an attempt to win hearts and minds with the promise of “Green Mining”.

Resistance to metallic mining in El Salvador also came from other key sectors, including: 

• the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador (see: “CUIDEMOS LA CASA DE TODOS Pronunciamiento de la Conferencia Episcopal de El Salvador sobre la explotación de minas de oro y plata”)
• the Salvadoran Association of Religious;
• the presidential National Commission on Development;
• three national universities;
• the ex-minister of Natural Resources;
• the ex-Minister of Education;
• over 80 communities  organized in the National Network of Communities Affected by Mining;
• civil society organizations of the National Roundtable on Metallic Mining in El Salvador;
• the president of the Association of Industry;
• the Confederation of Religions for Peace;
• the Human Rights Ombudsman;
• the outgoing president of the republic;
• the newly-elected president of the republic.

With the current correlation, any effort to award money or mining rights to a foreign corporation in the context of a highly controversial free trade agreement will inevitably generate dangerous levels of confrontation and violence in El Salvador and will violate the fundamental right of the Salvadoran people to be adequately informed about the impacts of mining in their country and to say “yes” or “no” to this industry. 

Lucha Continental: Lazos Anti-Mineros de Wisconsin y El Salvador

Details

Category: Commerce Group

Published: Tuesday, 28 February 2012 11:28

Lucha Continental:  Lazos Anti-Mineros de Wisconsin y El Salvador

Febrero, 2012

English Version

La lucha contra la minería se está intensificando en el estado de Wisconsin, EEUU.  El jueves 26 de enero, la cámara de representantes estatal deWisconsin (dominado por miembros del partido de derecha Republicana) aprobó una ley que facilitaría el proceso de otorgar permisos para minería de hierro en el estado.  La propuesta de ley se llama AB 426, y ahora pasa al senado estatal para un segundo voto (toda propuesta de ley en los EEUU tiene que ser aprobado por la Cámara de Representantes y después el Senado, sea al nivel de estado o al nivel nacional). 

Actualmente, las compañías mineras están planteando dos tipos de extracción minera en Wisconsin:  minería de arena, la cual se ocupa para el proceso de producción de gas natural, y minería de hierro.   Gogebic Taconite, una compañía minera estadounidense, está buscando abrir una mina de hierro en el norte de Wisconsin que valdría $12 mil millones.  El proyecto contempla una mina a cielo abierto que rodearía 35.4 kilómetros. 

La mina amenaza contaminar la Cuenca del Bad River, que es la principal fuente de agua para la cuidad cercana de Ashland y los cultivos de arroz nativo del pueblo indígena Ojibwe del Bad River.  En los EEUU, la tierra de una tribu de un pueblo indígena se considera como una nación soberana, y existen acuerdos entre la el gobierno de los EEUU y las naciones indígenas soberanas.  Uno de los acuerdos con la nación de los Ojibwe  establece que no se permite la contaminación de los recursos naturales, y al abrir este proyecto minero, el acuerdo está en peligro de romperse, lo cual está contemplado como “acto de guerra.”  

Mientras los legisladores debatieron la propuesta de ley, los pueblos indígenas, algunos que habían viajado más de 400 km para participar, junto con otras organizaciones e individuos preocupados por la minería, organizaron una “Audiencia del Pueblo” donde escucharon testimonio sobre los posibles impactos de la minería en su estado y sobre la oposición del pueblo a estos proyectos.  En una conferencia de prensa el Presidente Tribal Mike Wiggains, Jr, dijo “Esta propuesta de ley representa los intereses de las empresas más que los derechos de los ciudadanos y más que los intereses de tener agua y aire limpios.”

Durante la “Audiencia del Pueblo,” también, se dio lectura a un saludo mandado por Kenia Ortez en nombre de la comunidad de San Sebastian en Santa Rosa de Lima, La Unión, El Salvador.  Hay un vínculo fuerte entre Wisconsin y El Salvador en términos de minería.  Actualmente, una empresa minera deWisconsin está intentando demandar al gobierno de El Salvador por $100 millones, después de que el gobierno revocó sus permisos de explotación cuando la comunidad donde está ubicada la mina, San Sebastian, presentó evidencia de una fuerte contaminación del medioambiente como resultado del proceso de minería.  En su saludo, Ortez dijo “Solo queremos decirles que no quisiéramos que ninguna comunidad,  ningún pueblo, sufra lo que nosotros estamos sufriendo por la explotación de la minería.”

Para fotos de la “Audiencia del Pueblo” y la protesta visita aquí.

Los pueblos indígenas de Wisconsin tienen una larga trayectoria de lucha contra la minería.  El pueblo Ojibwe luchó por décadas, y finalmente ganó en 2003, contra empresas que buscaron construir una mina de cobre y zinc.   Al final, gastaron $16.5 millones y compraron el sitio de la minería de la empresa Nicolet Minerals Inc.

Aun con su historia de lucha, la reacción a las actividades que han organizado de parte del gobierno estatal y la policía les ha sorprendido.  Durante la “Audiencia del Pueblo” uno de los activistas fue detenido por “crear disturbios” al tocar un tambor indígena.   Recientemente, el gobierno estatal ha cambiado las regulaciones sobre actividades de protesta.  “Hemos perdido más libertades en este país en los últimos cuatro décadas que durante toda la historia de los Estados Unidos, especialmente con respeto a las primera y cuarta enmiendas.  Fíjense en la Ley Patriota,” denunció Joe Rose, líder del Bad River Band. 

Para más información en inglés sobre las protestas, visita aquí, aquí y aquí

Saludo de Kenia Ortez en nombre de la comunidad de San Sebastian, Santa Rosa de Lima, La Unión

Queridos amigos de Wisconsin

Reciban un cordial saludo de solidaridad, de parte de la comunidad San Sebastián de Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador.

Queremos solidarizarnos con el pueblo de Wisconsin en su lucha contra la mina, ya que no es una lucha individual, sino colectiva.  Es una lucha de países que debemos estar siempre alerta y en una lucha constante a estas empresas mineras, que solo causan daño y destrucción a las comunidades o pueblos.  Nosotros hablamos de estos daños y destrucciones porque los hemos vivido en carne propia.  Hemos vivido y estamos viviendo las consecuencias de la explotación de una mina.

Nos comentan que ustedes tendrán una audiencia el miércoles en el capitolio estatal hoy.

Solo queremos decirles que no quisiéramos que ninguna comunidad, ningún pueblo, sufra lo que nosotros estamos sufriendo por la explotación de la minería.

Así que adelante con su lucha

Comunidad de San Sebastián

24 de enero de 2012

Cross Border Struggles: Anti-Mining Ties between WI and El Salvador

Details

Category: Commerce Group

Published: Tuesday, 28 February 2012 10:57

Cross-Border Struggles:  Anti-Mining Ties between Wisconsin and El Salvador

February, 2012

Versión en Español

The struggle against mining is gaining force in the state of Wisconsin.  On Thursday, January 26th the Wisconsin Assembly (which has a strong Republican majority) passed a bill that would make the process of gaining iron mining permits in the state easier.  The bill is called AB 426, and will now go to the State Senate for a second vote.

Currently, mining companies are proposing two types of mining in Wisconsin:  sand mining, which would be used for natural gas production, and iron mining.  Gogebic Taconite, a U.S. company, is looking to open an iron mine in northern Wisconsin that would be worth $12 million.  The project proposes an open pit mine that would stretch over 22 miles. 

The mine would contaminate the Bad River Watershed, which is the main source of water for the nearby city of Ashland and the wild rice beds of the Ojibwe Bad River Tribe.  The Ojibwe Bad River land is considered a sovereign nation and they have signed treaties with the U.S. government that stipulate that the Ojibwe resources will not be infringed upon.  Violation of these treaties can be considered an act of war.

While the legislators debated the law, indigenous tribes, some who had driven more than 250 miles to be there, together with other organizations and concerned individuals organized a “People’s Hearing” with testimony about the possible impacts of mining and the opposition of the people to these projects.  In a press conference Tribe President Mike Wiggains Jr. said ““This bill represents corporate interests over the rights of citizens and over the interests of clean air and water.”

Also, during the “People’s Hearing” participants read a greeting sent by Kenia Ortez in name of the community of San Sebastian, El Salvador.  There are strong ties between Wisconsin and El Salvador around mining. Currently a Wisconsin company is trying to sue the government of El Salvador for $100 million, after the government revoked its mining permits when the community of San Sebastian presented evidence of environmental contamination from the mining process.  In her greeting Ortez said, “We just want to tell you that we don’t want any community, or any people, to suffer what we have suffered because of mining.”

Pictures of the People's Hearing

The Tribes of Wisconsin have a long history of struggling against mining.  The Ojibwe Tribe struggled for decades, and finally won in 2003, against companies looking to build a copper and zinc mine. In the end they paid $16.5 million and bought the mining rights from Nicolet Minerals Inc. 

Even taking into account their history of struggle, the reaction to the activities organized by the state government and police surprised them.  During the “People’s Hearing” one of the activist was detained for “creating a disturbance” by playing a tribal drum.  Recently, the state government has changed the restrictions for protest activities. “We've lost more freedom in this country in the past four decades than in the whole rest of American history, especially as it relates to the first and fourth amendments. Look at the Patriot Act…,” said Joe Rose, a leader from the Bad River Band.   

For more information about the protests see here, here and here

Full Text of the Greeting from Kenia Ortez

Dear friends from Wisconsin,

Receive our cordial greetings of solidarity, on behalf of the community San Sebastian de Santa Rosa de Lima, El Salvador.

We wish to extend our solidarity with the people of Wisconsin in your struggle against the mine. It is not an individual struggle, if not collective, a struggle of the countries.  We must always be alert and in constant struggle against these mining companies that only cause damage and destruction to the communities or peoples.  We speak of these damages and destruction because we have lived them with our own flesh.  We have lived and are living the consequences of the mining exploitation.

We wish to express our solidarity because you have a public hearing in the state capital.

We just want to say to you that we don't want any other community, or any people, to suffer what we have suffered from mining.

So, Forward with your struggle

Community of San Sebastian

24th of January 2012

Public Citizen Commerce Group Backgrounder

Details

Category: Background and reports

Published: Tuesday, 28 February 2012 10:41

Backgrounder 

CAFTA Investor Rights Undermining Democracy and the Environment: Commerce Group Case

The Commerce Group Corporation, a mining firm registered and based in Wisconsin, is the second multinational company to attack El Salvador’s environmental policies under the controversial investor rights of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). The company’s environmental permits for its gold mining and milling operations in Northeastern El Salvador were revoked after the company failed its environmental audit; in April 2010, the Salvadoran Supreme Court ruled that the company had been accorded due process during and after the audit. 

For the full text see here…

MCALM Press Release

Details

Category: Media Releases

Published: Tuesday, 28 February 2012 10:25

International tribunal rejects Milwaukee mining company’s $100 million claim against El Salvador

International community continues to demand reparations for environmental damage

Washington, DC: On March 15, 2011, a tribunal at the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) rejected Commerce Group Corporation’s claim against the government of El Salvador, essentially tossing out the case.

Steve Watrous, of the Midwest Coalition Against Lethal Mining, a group of student, environmental, and religious organizations that have been pressuring Commerce Group to drop the suit, commented, “We are celebrating this victory together with the communities in El Salvador that have been suffering the effects of gold mining. Now it’s time for Commerce Group to clean up the mess they’ve made in El Salvador.”

A 2006 study of the local waterways surrounding the San Sebastian mine in La Unión, El Salvador, owned by the Milwaukee-based Commerce Group Corporation, revealed elevated levels of cyanide and heavy metals, for example, an aluminum level 1800 times higher than the World Health Organization’s recommended limit.

According to Salvadoran court documents, Commerce Group’s environmental permit was revoked in 2006 for failure to comply with clean-up and other requirements for that permit. At that time, El Salvador’s Minister of the Environment and Natural Resources stated, “The environmental ministry cannot grant permits for mining projects if the company’s environmental impact assessment does not show that they’re going to protect the earth, aquifers, surface, the air and the health of the people that live in the communities.”

The company filed a lawsuit against the government of El Salvador in 2009 through the foreign investor provisions of the U.S.-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade, demanding at least $100 million in compensation for alleged lost profits, despite the fact that, according to SEC filings, Commerce Group has not had any earnings since 2002, four years before their permit was revoked

“It’s pretty outrageous that the government of El Salvador has been attacked for protecting the health and safety of its people,” said Al Gedicks, professor of sociology at University of Wisconsin LaCrosse, and author of Resource Rebels. “If anything, it is Commerce Group who should be paying for the toxic legacy they have left behind.”

Even though the case was dismissed, El Salvador paid nearly $800,000 in legal fees for the initial stages of the hearing, according to the government’s report to the tribunal; in addition, the tribunal ordered each party to split the costs of arbitration, or $45,000 each.  Jan Morrill, from U.S.-El Salvador Sister Cities, who has been working closely with the affected communities, commented, “El Salvador has had to pay close to $800,000 just to be dragged through this arduous process for over a year in order to defend itself from a baseless attack. This is money that could have been much better spent by the government investing in economic growth, health and education.”

Press Release by the Midwest Coalition Against Lethal Mining

No al Oro Sucio en El Salvador

Details

Category: Commerce Group

Published: Tuesday, 28 February 2012 10:03

No al Oro Sucio en El Salvador!

Noviembre 2010

The English Version

¡Oponemos la Demanda de Commerce Group contra El Pueblo de El Salvador!

Como respuesta al movimiento popular en El Salvador para frenar la extracipon minera destructiva en los departamentos de Cabañas y La Unión, ambos Pacific Rim y Commerce Group están demandando al gobierno de El Salvador por $77 millones y $100 millones respectivamente, buscando compensación amparado en “protecciones” para inversionistas en el Tratado de Libre Comercio de Centro America (CAFTA).

¿Qué es Commerce Group?

Commerce Group es una compañía norteamericana, basada en la ciudad de Milwaukee, que tiene una mina de oro ubicada en el cantón de San Sebastián, municipio de Santa Rosa de Lima, departamento de La Unión.  En los últimos cuarenta años, las actividades de Commerce Group han causado mucho daño al medio ambiente y también a la salud pública.  Debido a estos problemas, el gobierno salvadoreño le revocó el permiso de explotación minera de Commerce Group en el año 2006.  Ahora, a través de la llamada «protección de inversiones extranjeros» del Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC), Commerce Group ha puesto una demanda en contra del gobierno salvadoreño en la cantidad de $100 millones.

¿Por qué oponemos a la demanda de Commerce Group?

1. La demanda es una táctica cínica de una compañía fracasada, aprovechando de los acuerdos internacionales para sacar dinero que no pudo ganar por maneras legítimas.  Según los documentos que el mismo Commerce Group ha mandado a las autoridades financieras del gobierno estadounidense, la compañía no ha ganado ni un centavo desde 2002 (cuatro años antes de que el permiso fue revocado), y sus actividades minerías se terminaron por falta de fondos en 1999 (siete años antes de que el permiso fue revocado).  Por eso, es obvio que los problemas financieras de Commerce Group no tienen nada que ver con el gobierno salvadoreño, sino con su propia incompetencia.  La demanda no es nada más que un intento criminal a hacerse rico robándole al pueblo salvadoreño.

2. El pueblo de la zona sigue sufriendo las consecuencias de las actividades de Commerce Group a través del drenaje ácido de la mina abandonada.  Según un estudio científico llevado a cabo en 2006, el río San Sebastián es 100.000 veces más ácido que las otras aguas no contaminadas de la misma zona.  También se detectó un nivel de cianuro 10 veces más que el máximo permitido por la Organización Mundial de Salud (OMS), y niveles muy altas de sulfatos y metales disueltos.  Mucha gente utiliza la agua del río para lavar ropa y trastos, para hacer tortillas, y para sus cultivos y animales.  El río prácticamente no tiene ni un pez.  También hay numerosos informes de problemas de la salud humana, que incluyen desde dolores de cabeza crónicos hasta insuficiencias renales.  Si hay alguien que debe pagar, es el mismo Commerce Group, que ha dejado los limeños con los efectos graves de este desastre ambiental.

3. Si tenga éxito está demanda, pondrá en duda el derecho de todas las naciones independientes en hacer leyes para el bienestar de sus propios pueblos.  Este caso no es único.  Una compañía canadiense (Pacific Rim) ha puesto una demanda muy parecida en contra del gobierno salvadoreño por un permiso minera en el departamento de Cabañas.  Las llamadas «protecciones» del Tratado de Libre Comercio (TLC) y otros acuerdos internacionales ponen las ganancias de empresas extranjeras sobre que la soberanía nacional, la democracia, o el bienestar humano.  La derrota de la demanda de Commerce Group será una victoria para la dignidad humana y el medio ambiente en contra de la codicia y la avidez.

Los firmados demandamos: 

Que Commerce Group Retire la Demanda!

Una Limpieza Ambiental de Contaminación Minera Ya Incurrida!

Recompensa para Víctimas de la Contaminación de la Mina!

Respeto para la Soberanía de El Salvador!