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<div dir="ltr"><font face="Tahoma" color="#000000" size="2"><em>sorry for crosspostings....</em></font></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><font face="tahoma"><a href="http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14889">http://canadians.org/blog/?p=14889</a></font></div>
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<p>A media release issued by Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Corp. today states, “PacRim recently received notification from the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) that a decision on the Jurisdiction Objection will be
announced by May 31, 2012. The Jurisdiction Objection was filed by the Government of El Salvador (GOES) in relation to the arbitration action commenced by PacRim in April 2009 under the Dominican Republic-United States-Central America Free Trade Agreement
and the Investment Law of El Salvador (the CAFTA/ILES action).”<br>
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<p><em>Background</em><br>
In 2007, the Ministry of Environment in El Salvador denied Pacific Rim the permits needed for their El Dorado mine. In retaliation, the company (through its US-based subsidiary) launched a $77 million US-Central America Free Trade Agreement challenge. A decision
on this ‘investor-state’ case will be made by an ‘International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes’ panel, which is based at the World Bank in Washington, DC.</p>
<p><em>Water implication of the mine</em><br>
The Inter Press Service has reported that, “Peasant farmers from the northern Salvadoran province of Cabañas fear that mining operations by Pacific Rim planned for the region will consume 30,000 litres of water a day, drawn from the same sources that currently
provide local residents with water only once a week. Environmentalists and experts have also warned that if the operations begin…the cyanide that would be used by Pacific Rim to extract gold and silver could contaminate the area’s groundwater and soil.”</p>
<p>John Cavanagh and Robin Broad have written in <em>The Nation</em>, “Residents of (the northern Salvadoran community of Santa Marta in the northern department of Cabanas) are fighting US and Canadian mining companies eager to extract the rich veins of gold
buried near the Lempa River, the water source for more than half of El Salvador’s 6.2 million people, (which also winds through Guatemala and Honduras). …The communities’ goal: to make El Salvador the first nation to ban gold mining.”</p>
<p><em>Mine opponents murdered</em><br>
Over the past two years, at least nine anti-mining/ water justice activists who have expressed opposition to the mine have been murdered. In June 2009, Marcelo Rivera Moreno was found dead, he had been tortured. That December, Ramiro Rivera Gomez (the vice
president of the Environmental Committee of Cabanas) was shot dead. Later that month, Dora ‘Alicia’ Recinos Sorto (also a member of the Environmental Committee) was killed. Felícita Echevarría, Esperanza Velasco, Darwin Serrano, Gerardo Abrego León were also
killed. And most recently in June 2011, Juan Francisco Duran Ayala was found dead after putting up posters against the El Dorado mine. He had been shot in the head. The company denies any involvement in these murders.</p>
<p><em>Shout Out Against Mining Injustice</em><br>
Both Washington-based Institute for Policy Studies Fellow John Canvanagh and Vidalina Morales De Gamez of La Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálica in El Salvador will be speaking at ‘Shout Out Against Mining Injustice’ this June 1-2 in Vancouver. To register
for ‘Shout Out’, please go to <a href="http://www.canadians.org/shoutout">http://www.canadians.org/shoutout</a>.</p>
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The Council of Canadians; 700-170 Laurier Avenue West, Ottawa, ON, K1P 5V5 CA<br>
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Fax: (613) 233-6776; <a href="mailto:inquiries@canadians.org">inquiries@canadians.org</a></font></div>
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<div><font face="Tahoma" size="2"><strong>Manuel Pérez Rocha </strong></font></div>
<div><font face="tahoma" size="2">Associate Fellow </font></div>
<div><font face="tahoma" size="2">Global Economy Project </font></div>
<div><font face="tahoma" size="2"><strong>Institute for Policy Studies </strong></font></div>
<div><font face="tahoma" size="2">Washington D.C. </font></div>
<div><font face="tahoma" size="2"><a href="http://www.ips-dc.org/">www.ips-dc.org</a>
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<div><font face="tahoma" size="2"><a href="http://www.justinvestment.org/">www.justinvestment.org</a>
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<div><font face="tahoma" size="2">Cel. 240-838-6623 </font></div>
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