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<div class=Section1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=5 color=navy face=Times><span style='font-size:
18.0pt;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=5 face=Times><span
style='font-size:18.0pt'>Movement Responds to Pacific Rim’s Media
Offensive</span></font></b><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial'><o:p></o:p></span></font></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=4 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:navy;font-weight:normal'><img width=300 height=225 id="_x0000_i1025"
src="cid:image001.jpg@01CAA97F.CCEA7A60"><o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=2 color=navy
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;
font-weight:normal'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<h1 align=center style='text-align:center'><b><font size=4 color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:navy;font-weight:normal'><a href="http://www.cispes.org/">CISPES</a></span></font></b><font
size=4 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-weight:normal'> update<o:p></o:p></span></font></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=4
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:14.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>February
9, 2010<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><font size=2
face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><i><font size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Arial;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic'>Included in this update:<font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></i></b></p>
<h1><b><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<ul style='margin-top:0in' type=disc>
<li class=MsoNormal style='color:blue;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo3'><i><font
size=2 color=blue face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:
Arial;font-style:italic'><a href="#_First_Popular_Consultation">First
Popular Consultation in Salvadoran History</a><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></li>
</ul>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=3 color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black'>Pacific Rim</span></font></st1:place><font color=black
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black'>
has launched a media campaign after months without public appearances.
Representatives of the company in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region
w:st="on">El Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> spoke on several Salvadoran
TV news programs, continuing to blame the murders in Cabañas on family quarrels
unrelated to mining. A <a
href="http://www.elsalvador.com/mwedh/nota/nota_completa.asp?idCat=6358&idArt=4456937">January
24th article</a> in El Salvador´s right-wing <i><span style='font-style:italic'>Diario
de Hoy</span></i> newspaper backed up their claims.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black'>On Wednesday
the 27th, the National Roundtable against Metallic Mining (the <st1:City
w:st="on"><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:City>) held a
press conference denouncing the new <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Rim</st1:place>
press strategy and restating the fact that violence in Cabañas was generated by
the presence of the mining company as well as the continued context of impunity
in the region. "The personal or family quarrels that possibly exist
in the town of <st1:City w:st="on">Trinidad</st1:City> are due to the
operations of <st1:place w:st="on">Pacific Rim</st1:place> in the
region and the opinions in favor of or against mining adopted by the members of
the community. Cabañas -- in spite of its high level of poverty and exclusion
-- was one of the least violent departments of the country but this changed
with the presence the extractive company in question," according to the <i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Mesa´s </span></i>press statement. You can
watch a <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ulorNxr5snQ">video clip</a> of
the press conference (courtesy of Maggie Von Vogt), or read the <a
href="http://esnomineria.blogspot.com/2010/01/comunicado-de-prensa-la-mesa-nacional.html">statement</a>.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 color=black face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";color:black'>The <st1:City
w:st="on"><i><span style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:City><i><span
style='font-style:italic'> </span></i>continues to call for a law banning
metallic mining in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">El
Salvador</st1:country-region></st1:place> to prevent more mining-related
social conflict. In 2008</span></font><font color=navy
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman";color:navy'>,</span></font><font
color=black face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman";
color:black'> </span></font><font face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-family:"Times New Roman"'>the <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><i><span
style='font-style:italic'>Mesa</span></i></st1:place></st1:City> warned<font
color=black><span style='color:black'> of the possibility of such violence as a
result of mining company presence in communities. Examples of mining
companies promoting violence are present in countries all over the world, and
recent murders and threats related to the mining conflict have been documented
in </span></font><u><font color=blue><span style='color:blue'><a
href="http://narcosphere.narconews.com/notebook/kristin-bricker/2009/12/chiapas-anti-mining-organizer-murdered"
target="_blank">Mexico</a></span></font></u><font color=black><span
style='color:black'>, </span></font><u><font color=blue><span
style='color:blue'><a
href="http://www.oxfamamerica.org/articles/environmental-activists-receive-death-threats"
target="_blank">Guatemala</a></span></font></u><font color=black><span
style='color:black'>, and </span></font><u><font color=blue><span
style='color:blue'><a
href="http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/2244/1/" target="_blank">Peru</a></span></font></u><font
color=black><span style='color:black'>. <o:p></o:p></span></font></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='text-indent:.5in'><i><font size=3
face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";
font-style:italic'>-Contributions from CISPES and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:PlaceName
w:st="on">US-El</st1:PlaceName> <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Salvador Sister</st1:PlaceName>
<st1:PlaceType w:st="on">Cities</st1:PlaceType></st1:place><o:p></o:p></span></font></i></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman";font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<h1><a name="_First_Popular_Consultation"></a><b><font size=4 face=Times><span
style='font-size:13.0pt'>First Popular Consultation in Salvadoran History<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>On January 24, the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">municipality</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">Zacatecoluca</st1:PlaceName>, in the department of <st1:place
w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on">La Paz</st1:City></st1:place>, became the first
municipality to ever carry out a popular consultation. Citizens of
Zacatecoluca were called to the polls by the mayor Francisco Hirezi of the
Farabundo Martí Front for National Liberation (FMLN) party to cast a ballot on
whether they supported a proposal to reorganize the municipality’s
historic center, relocating the local street vendors to market stalls.
Since 1986, the nation’s “Municipal Code” has allowed for
local popular consultations and defined the legal mechanism to carry them out.
The consultations are designed to serve primarily as opinion polls, creating a
means for the local government to solicit community feedback on issues that
will affect them. Legally, 40% of the municipality’s voter turnout
in the previous election must be reached in order for the results to be
binding.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>National and international organizations
that observed the popular consultation applauded the municipality’s
initiative to create spaces for participatory democracy; however, the
right-wing media attempted to paint the consultation as a first step in
creating a referendum process to rewrite the constitution. Observers also
recognized the use of residential voting in the consultation as an excellent
example of a measure they recommend for national elections. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'>While the consultation showed an
overwhelming 97% of voters in support of the proposed reorganization of the
city’s historic center, it did not achieve the voter turnout necessary to
make the results binding. The Zacatecoluca municipal council now has an
important gauge of popular opinion, and can proceed with the project at its
discretion.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman"'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face=Times><span style='font-size:12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=3 color=navy face=Times><span
style='font-size:12.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
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