Canadian Mining in El Salvador

Mining and exploration done by Canadian mining corporations working in poor countries such as El Salvador, where people already face enough obstacles to a decent standard of living, have created (and still do create) huge problems for individuals and communities. Problems linked to our country's poor mining practices include not only unjust working conditions and treatment, but environmental destruction and human rights violations and violence. According to an article in the Toronto Star, compared to other countries' firms, Canadian companies are more often engaged in community conflict and unethical behaviour (http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/877438--canadian-mining-firms-worst-for-environment-rights-report).
Although the incident happened almost two months ago now, I thought I would share this story with you, so you can understand another part of El Salvador's current context, and how as Canadians we are connected to it. Here are some excerpts from a KAIROS article I read recently:

KAIROS is deeply saddened and concerned to learn that another environmental and community activist has been murdered in El Salvador. We join civil society organizations in El Salvador and Canada in calling for a full investigation into the murder of Juan Francisco Durán Ayala. This is the fourth murder in two years that local organizations believe are linked to the presence of Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining in the department of Cabañas.
On June 2nd, Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, a thirty-year old linguistics student at the Technological University in San Salvador, was hanging posters in the city of Ilobasco, in the department of Cabañas. The posters were part of the Cabañas Environmental Committee (CAC) campaign which calls for the approval of a law against metal mining in El Salvador and for Pacific Rim Mining to leave the department of Cabanas. The next day, Juan left for classes in the capital city and was not heard from again.
Juan Francisco’s body was found shortly after midnight on June 4th. He had been shot twice in the head. When the Medical Examiner declared his body ‘unidentifiable,’ he was buried in a common grave in San Salvador. The following week, the Environmental Committee determined the whereabouts of Juan Francisco’s body, and on June 14th, Juan Francisco’s father positively identified his son. 
Background:
Juan Francisco’s murder is part of a pattern of violence in Cabañas which community members believe is linked to the presence of and ongoing dispute with Pacific Rim Mining in the department of Cabañas. His death comes two years after the murder of community leader and activist Marcelo Rivera. At that time, KAIROS issued a statement and urgent action. In December of the same year, Ramiro Rivera and Dora Alicia Sorto, who was pregnant, were also assassinated. In recent months, local journalists at Radio Victoria in Cabañas have received persistent threats. Francisco Piñeda, chair of the Cabañas Environmental Committee and winner of this year’s Goldman Environmental prize, now lives with around-the-clock armed guards to ensure his safety.
Civil society organizations in El Salvador have been engaged in a national debate over mining for the past several years. The “Mesa,” or National Roundtable on Mining, has brought together churches, community representatives, human rights and environmental organizations to advocate for an outright ban on metal mining throughout the country. While there is a bill being debated in Congress regarding such a ban, it has not received enough support to be passed. The current President, on the other hand, has placed a moratorium on extending mining exploration and exploitation permits until the completion of a National Strategic Environmental Assessment.
Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining has filed a $77 million lawsuit against the Salvadoran government, arguing that the government’s failure to issue a mining exploitation permit in 2009 due to environmental concerns violates the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA). Recently, the United States government supported El Salvador in the trade dispute, which is currently being heard by an international tribunal at the World Bank.
This full article, and more information about KAIROS, can be read here: http://www.kairoscanada.org/kairostimes/special-11-06-JuanFrancisco.html
Although these problems are overwhelming, and the solutions to the effects of our mining practices are not easy, it is important to be aware of what is happening.
If you are interested in reading more about this, Mennonite Church Canada wrote an article about this in their newsletter at the 2011 Assembly (see page 2). http://www.mennonitechurch.ca/files/events/waterloo2011/EpicNewsMonday_web.pdf
This is also a really good article from MiningWatch Canada's website.
http://www.miningwatch.ca/article/water-gold-el-salvador

Now, on a happier note!! In two weeks, I will have all my bags packed (hopefully!!) and will be leaving Canadian soil! Can't believe it's almost August already!! Lots of people have been asking about my itinerary, so here it is: August 10th my parents will be driving me to Akron, Pennsylvania for a week-long SALT orientation with MCC. Then on August 18th, I will fly with the Guatemala SALTer, from Philadelphia to Guatemala City, where we will have more SALT orientation (for a few days or so) with the MCC representatives for Guatemala/El Salvador. After that, I will finally be headed to El Salvador to start my volunteer work with ANADES, which I am getting more and more excited about!

I still have a few more preparations to do before I leave on the 10th, including finish my fundraising for MCC. If you are interested in donating, and have not done so yet, you have until August 5th (at the very latest!) to donate. Call or email me for more info.

Thanks for reading my second blog post! Hopefully my keenness (is that a word??) to update my blog won't wear out once I finally get to El Salvador...I hope to make updates at least once or twice a month, so check back in again in a few weeks, once I'm all settled in, in my new home in San Ramon!