[CISPES-Alert] Stop the Suits: Support CISPES' New Anti-Mining Campaign!

[CISPES National Office]

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Dear Friend in Solidarity,

With a little over 100 days in office, the first leftist government in
Salvadoran history can already point to many
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=624&Item=1>
notable achievements. Through social initiatives, such as the legalization
of over 1,000 land titles to campesinos, FMLN President Mauricio Funes holds
a stunning 70-80% approval rating. 



But attacks from North American corporations threaten to slow progressive
change in favor of poor and working people in El Salvador. Two mining
corporations, backed by the United States Free Trade Agreement-CAFTA are
attempting to extort over 177 million dollars from the Salvadoran
government.  To help CISPES stop these greedy mining corporations,
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=296> click here
to donate to our grassroots campaign.

The Salvadoran people have taken a stand against dangerous environmental
impacts of gold extraction, including the contamination of sources of clean
drinking water and devastation to local agriculture. In fact, the mining
resistance in El Salvador has been so strong that the people successfully
forced the Salvadoran government to cut off permits to two North American
mining corporations, Pacific Rim and Commerce Group for failing to meet the
country’s environmental standards. 

In the wake of these victories, however, community organizers leading this
movement have faced increased violent repression, including assassinations,
torture, and death threats. Watch a short film on
<http://youtube.com/watch?v=yvXm52BhSHQ> the death of mining activist
Marcelo Rivera here. 

 But it doesn’t end there. Now these transnational companies are suing the
Salvadoran government under the private investor’s chapter of CAFTA, the
Central American Free Trade Agreement, for over $177 million dollars.

Their claim? “Lost profits.”

That is why CISPES is launching a campaign to stop the lawsuits and end
CAFTA! 

We kicked off the campaign last week, as CISPES activists around the country
led demonstrations and teach-ins during the our Week of Action against NAFTA
and CAFTA.  

*	

	We took to the streets right in front of Pacific Rim Headquarters in
Vancouver and demanded they drop their unfair lawsuit. (Click
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=631&Itemid=1>
here to echo the call!) 
*	Joined with allied groups to call for the re-negotiation or
repudiation CAFTA and NAFTA, bringing our demands to President Obama during
his visit to San Francisco 

*	Pushed Congress to take action on human rights abuses and unfair
trade policy that put profit over people. Ten Representatives are already
working on a letter to El Salvador’s new Attorney General to demand an
investigation into the murder of Marcelo Rivera! 

*	Hosted a delegation of social movement leaders from El Salvador’s
largest anti-mining coalition and raised over $1200 for their communities’
struggles. (click here to  <http://www.youtube.com/watch?=vzlsFnpsOmqg>
watch activists receive the prestigious Letelier-Moffit Human Rights award
in Washington DC). 

                                                                     But
this is just the beginning of CISPES’s Stop the Suits campaign.  Our goal is
to send 2,000 postcards to Pacific Rim CEO Thomas Shrake by the end of the
year and meet with Congressional Representatives in every district where we
have committees to push them to take action on free trade agreements. We
know this is a big undertaking and long-term fight, but El Salvador’s
political and economic transformation depends on it. 

Through our cross-border movement, dedicated organizers and members, and the
support of donors like you we can make it happen. We need to raise $5,000 by
December 1st to launch these first phases of our campaign; will
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=296> you donate
$100 to help us reach our goal? 

 P.S. After years in retreat, the right in Latin America, with the help of
U.S. corporations, is once again on the march. We must not let them turn
back the people’s advances in El Salvador. Please
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=296> donate at
our website today so we can continue to support the people’s struggles!

 It is easy and secure to donate to our grassroots campaign, just click
<http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=296> here. 

 




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© 2009 CISPES - The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
CISPES National Office | ph. 202-521-2510 | 1525 Newton St. NW, Wash. DC
20010| cispes at cispes.org

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