[Cispes-update] Salvadoran anti-mining organizer missing, foul play suspected

[CISPES National Office]

Anti-mining organizer from San Isidro missing, foul play suspected

CISPES update

June 30, 2009



Marcelo Rivera, community activist from San Isidro

 

Also in this update:

*	Mining corporations attack FMLN government <> 
*	FMLN and Mauricio Funes join presidents <>  throughout Latin America
in denouncing coup in Honduras
*	Funes reports on corruption <> 
*	FMLN uncovers plan to spy on new <>  administration
*	Funes and his new administration begin the process <>  of change

 

Social movement organizations have denounced the disappearance of Gustavo
Marcelo Rivera, a well-known anti-mining organizer from the town of San
Isidro, Cabañas. Rivera is a local leader of the FMLN party, the director of
the San Isidro Community Center, and the legal representative of Amigos de
San Isidro Cabañas (ASIC).  He is a vocal opponent of the El Dorado gold
mine, a project of the Pacific Rim mining company that has been stalled
based on disputes over permits. Pacific Rim recently sued El Salvador for
$77 million under the Central America Free Trade Agreement after the
government refused to grant a permit to open the El Dorado mine.

 

In addition to helping organize opposition to the El Dorado mine, Rivera
played a key role in January when the results of the municipal elections in
San Isidro were challenged due to fraud and the presence of foreign voters.
Social movement groups believe that his disappearance is politically
motivated and have called on the National Civilian Police, the Attorney
General’s office, and the Human Rights Ombudsman's office to actively
investigate his whereabouts. Local leaders have met with new Public Security
Minister Manuel Melgar about the case but have continued to complain about
the lack of action on the part of the local police and the Attorney
General’s office, the leadership of which remains in limbo due to a refusal
by the right-wing bloc in the Legislative Assembly, led by the ARENA party,
to hold an election for a new Attorney General.

 


Mining corporations attack FMLN government


 

On March 16, the Commerce Group Corporation and San Sebastian Gold Mines,
both U.S.-based companies, filed a Notice of Intent to open legal
proceedings against the government of El Salvador in a special tribunal
established by the Central America Free Trade Agreement. The companies
allege that the government has illegally refused to issue mining  permits.
The Notice of Intent begins a 90-day period in which El Salvador and the
companies can amicably resolve the issue.  If the issue is not resolved,
Commerce Group and San Sebastian Gold Mines can then sue El Salvador for
lost investments. The two companies are demanding $100 million compensation,
or the immediate issuance of the mining permits. This is the second demand
made against El Salvador under CAFTA laws by mining companies. In April,
Pacific Rim Mining demanded approximately $77 million in lost investments
from the government. Read more about the Pacific
<http://cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=496&Itemid=28>
Rim case HERE.

 

The mining of precious metals in El Salvador is opposed by a broad coalition
of social movement groups that make up the National Roundtable on Metallic
Mining, which was recently awarded the Letelier-Moffit Human Rights Award by
the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington, D.C., for its work resisting
mining in the country. The resistance movement contends that the proposed
mines would cause major destruction to the already fragile environment in El
Salvador and contaminate the few sources of clean drinking water that
remain.

 

The Center for Studies on Investment and Trade (CEICOM) in El Salvador has
called on President Mauricio Funes to refuse to pay the Pacific Rim demand.
William Castillo of CEICOM’s Board of Directors has encouraged Funes’
administration to work with the social movements opposed to mining and make
use of their evidence and arguments against issuing permits in his refusal
to pay the demands. “There is sufficient documentation to defeat this
demand,” said Castillo.

 

The FMLN faction in the Legislative Assembly recently introduced legislation
to reform El Salvador’s Mining Law by halting all metallic mining
exploration and operations and giving companies currently operating in the
country six months to close operations. FMLN Legislative Deputy Lourdes
Palacios explained that the proposed legislation seeks to “give tools to the
new government to avoid mining exploration and exploitation in the country.”

 

Please stay tuned to CISPES updates and action alerts for news on this
important subject and actions you can take to accompany the Salvadoran
resistance to mining,


 


FMLN and Mauricio Funes join presidents throughout Latin America in
denouncing coup in Honduras


 

President Mauricio Funes and the Political Commission of the FMLN both made
strong statements denouncing the military coup in Honduras which took place
on Sunday, June 28.  On Monday Funes travelled with the Secretary General of
the Organization of American States Jose Miguel Insulza to Nicaragua where
they appeared in a joint press conference.   According to Insulza, "There is
no room for the military in our region and we will not recognize the force
that has brought about this break with the constitution."  Meanwhile, FMLN
deputy Lorena Peña led a boisterous rally outside the Honduran Embassy in
San Salvador calling for the peaceful return of Zelaya to the presidency.
Social movement groups in El Salvador are also standing with the people of
Honduras, who on Monday were attacked repeatedly by riot police and soldiers
as they protested outside of the presidential palace.  Dozens of people were
injured in the repression, which is being directed by unlawful interim
president Roberto Micheletti.

 

CISPES participated in an action in front of the Honduran Embassy on Monday,
while chapters in Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco
also led rallies at consulates condemning the coup and calling for the Obama
Administration to take stronger action.  The Latin America Solidarity
Coalition, of which CISPES is a coordinating committee member, is calling on
people to make three demands to the White House and State Department: 1) cut
off of all US aid (as required by US law) until Zelaya is safely returned to
office, 2) Financial sanctions against the coup plotters, and 3) An
investigation into what signals U.S. Ambassador to Honduras Hugo Llorens
gave to coup plotters before the coup.  For more information go to
www.cispes.org <http://www.cispes.org/>  or www.lasolidarity.org
<http://www.lasolidarity.org/>  

 


Funes reports on corruption 


 

On Friday June 12, President Mauricio Funes held a press conference in which
he reported on rampant corruption found in many government ministries that
he inherited after his June 1 inauguration. Among the examples cited, the
National Registry Center was found to have some of the most severe cases,
including “ghost positions” and excessive payments to ARENA party
functionaries. Over $74,000 dollars were being paid monthly to 29
individuals who were not actually working for the institution. Many of these
individuals had worked on ARENA presidential candidate Rodrigo Avila’s
campaign. Funes’ press conference also noted many ARENA administration
officials who were using multiple state vehicles, in some cases up to 5, for
personal use.

 

Excessive spending that occurred in the months after former President Tony
Saca announced a government austerity plan was also brought to light. The
government’s Family Secretariat threw a Christmas celebration that cost a
half million dollars at a time that public hospital workers were protesting
a lack of medication, food, and clean bedding in the hospitals. “There are
institutions where the irregularities are frightening, truly frightening,
and demand an expedited and systematic investigation that permits us to
uncover administrative and criminal responsibilities,” Funes said during the
press conference.

 


FMLN uncovers plan to spy on new administration


 

In a June 14 press conference, FMLN spokesperson and Legislative Deputy
Sigfrido Reyes announced that the Funes administration had uncovered an
elaborate plot to spy on the new FMLN government. “It was a far-reaching
operation to keep the new government under observation, with cameras, with
microphones, with a clandestine apparatus,” explained Reyes. Surveillance
equipment was discovered in the Ministry of Governance as well as in other
unspecified institutions. Reyes admitted that the FMLN does not know who is
responsible for the plot, but assured that the government will carry out an
investigation. Reyes did not directly accuse the ARENA party, but called
upon its leaders to make a statement. “If this [plot] did originate from the
membership of the [ARENA] party, it should be denounced, and [the
responsible parties should be] punished,” Reyes declared. ARENA subsequently
denied culpability in the matter.


Funes and his new administration begin the process of change


 

President Mauricio Funes and his executive cabinet have hit the ground
running to implement the programs that will allow them to complete their
campaign promises. Major policy announcements relating to public health,
education, water services, and combating tax evasion were made in the first
month of Funes’ administration.

 

One of the first announcements was the end to “voluntary quotas” in the
public health network. These “voluntary quotas” were essentially charges for
doctors' visits and other health services that often led people to leave the
hospitals without receiving treatment.  Additionally, money from the
national budget was reallocated for the purchase of essential medicines that
the public health system currently does without.

 

In the Ministry of Education, new policies will guarantee free public
education through high school as well as provide free uniforms and school
supplies for students. Salvador Sanchez Cerén, Vice-president and Minister
of Education, announced a series of education reforms intended to raise a
generation of “Salvadorans that can act freely, capable of incorporating
themselves into a system with a critical vision of their reality, which will
require a high social content [in the educational system].” Sanchez Cerén
added, “we must prepare the individual to be an agent of change in society.”

 

Francisco José Gómez, the new president of the public water distribution
company, ANDA, announced that he plans to investigate the Office of
Decentralization, which facilitates and encourages the privatization of
local water distribution services. “I am reviewing [the subject] because
decentralization has not produced any [positive] results. One alarming case
that appeared
 is in Lolotique [a municipality with decentralized water
services], which has gone four months without water.” Gomez explained that
he will do away with preferential services for the wealthy, and instead
focus on providing water to the poorest communities.

 

The new administration has also announced the creation of a Vice-ministry of
Public Income in order to combat commercial tax evasion in the country. This
was a major promise of Funes’ campaign, and is one of the mechanisms the new
administration will use to cope with the lack of public funds for social
investment. The new Vice-ministry will unite the work of the current
Treasury, Customs, and Internal Tax offices, and will coordinate their
databases.

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