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Category: Mining prohibition El Salvador
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Published: Thursday, 21 November 2013 15:23
Members of the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining in Salvador demanded all presidential candidates to publicly state their parties' position on the issue of mining in the country. “Mining is one of the one of the most aggressive industries that harms biodiversity, public health and the environment,” stated a release from La Mesa.
"We demand the ARENA party and its candidate Norman Quijano, to state clearly where they stand on the issue of metal mining in El Salvador," said Edgardo Mira, director of the Center for Research on Investment (CEICOM), during a press conference in front of the headquarters of the right wing party in San Salvador.
Environmentalists are lobbying for all presidential candidates campaigning for the February 2014 presidential elections to endorse a law proposed by the National Roundtable Against Mining to make El Salvador the first country to prohibit metal mining in the world.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Wednesday, 23 October 2013 14:39
Translated from: http://tinyurl.com/mhvvolz
By: Elder Gomez, CoLatino News
El Salvador faces an "international mafia" seeking control of the country's natural resources, through "frivolous" legal international disputes, in which this nation has spent more than $3 million, while preparing a counterclaim to an Italian company that controls 51 percent of the shares for the national geothermal resource extraction, warned the Attorney General, Luis Martinez.
Meanwhile, representatives of the non-government organization, The National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining in El Salvador, warned that Australian company Oceana Gold, which acquired this month for $ 10.2 million US the shares of Canadian mining company Pacific Rim, seeking to exploit metals in the northern part of the country, could be negotiating with representatives of local political parties the approval of permits for the establishment the company’s mining projects in El Salvador.
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Category: Media Releases
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Published: Wednesday, 23 October 2013 11:52
The National Roundtable against Metal Mining issued the following response to the announcement of OceanaGold's purchase this week:
Multimillion dollar company purchases Pacific Rim mining company, will seek agreements with political parties to proceed with mining in the country
On October 8, transnational mining company OceanaGold announced the acquisition of the shares and properties in El Salvador belonging to Pacific Rim Mining. With a value of $10,2 million USD, a company press release announced its intention to seek a negotiated solution to the impasse represented by the lack of approvals to date for an exploitation permit for the El Dorado mine in the department of Cabañas, in the north of El Salvador. This announcement represents a direct attack against the sovereignty and legitimate right of the Salvadoran population to reject an industry that is a threat to our lives.
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Category: Media Releases
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Published: Wednesday, 09 October 2013 14:56
The National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining condemns attempted murder against leader of the anti-mining movement in El Salvador.
The member organizations of the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining, denounce the attempted murder against Mr. Alejandro Guevara Velasco from La Maraña Environmental Association in the department of Cabañas. We would like to express our deepest solidarity with Mr. Guevara and our strongest condemnation at the continued persecution that our members endure in El Salvador.
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Category: Mining prohibition El Salvador
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Published: Tuesday, 01 October 2013 15:01
Members of the Executive Committee
Legislative Assemble of El Salvador
Dear Members of the Legislative Assembly:
The undersigned members of the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining in El Salvador, return to you again exercising our right to petition enshrined in the Constitution of the Republic, to establish the following:
1 - The National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining for more than eight years has been informing officials of different institutions government, media, communities affected by different mining projects and the Salvadoran population in general that metal mining is one of the world's most predatory industries due to the use of polluting chemicals such as cyanide, and that its ultimate impact results in polluted waters. According the environmental impact study presented by Canadian mining company Pacific Rim, its el Dorado project located in San Isidro, Cabañas, could be using up to 10.4 liters of water per second, equivalent to about 327, 970.000 liters of water per year.
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Category: Media Releases
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Published: Tuesday, 01 October 2013 14:43
Given the socio-environmental crisis in the country, we demand the Legislature discuss and approve the proposed Special Law to Ban Metallic Mining
In 2006, we presented to the Legislative Assembly a proposed ban on metallic mining that, to date, has not being discussed by the Committee on Environment and Climate Change. On the other hand, political parties such as former Party of National Conciliation, PCN, and business sectors as the Salvadoran Industrial Association, ASI, have lobbied for mining operations to be allowed back in the country. Although contamination resulting from heavy metals has been documented and targeted murders, in 2009, of opponents of the mining industry have occurred, the real debate about the implications of mining has been silenced in El Salvador.
The commitments made by ex President Antonio Saca, in 2008, and current President Mauricio Funes, in 2009, to stop mining projects are yet to materialize in a permanent mining ban. In the meantime, mining companies continue to sue our country in international corporate courts, demanding hundreds of millions of dollars, and death threats against members of the anti-mining resistance persist. Mining conflicts have also deepened in the Central American region, while the indifference of our own government to protect us from contamination stemming from neighboring countries remains, 49 projects along our borders have the potential to pollute our water, land and food.
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