Anti-Mining Activist Disappears

The SHARE Foundation denounces the disappearance of Marcelo Rivera, a renowned leader in the community of San Isidro in the northern department of Cabañas.  Marcelo was last seen in the afternoon of June 18th near the town of Ilobasco, Cabañas.  He was wearing a Bishop Oscar Romero t-shirt and blue jeans.  Marcelo's family, friends, and community members are desperately searching for him.  They suspect that he may have been abducted for political reasons.  Marcelo was one of the main FMLN leaders who denounced the presence of foreigners trying to vote illegally in San Isidro during the January 18th municipal elections.  As a result, elections were suspended in the town and conducted a week later under strict oversight.  Marcelo is a leader in the social resistance movement against the Canadian mining corporation, Pacific Rim.  The mining company has been exploring for gold in the El Dorado mine located in Cabañas.  Pacific Rim is currently suing El Salvador under CAFTA because the government has refused to grant the company permits to begin gold mining extraction.

Marcelo Rivera is a 37 year-old teacher who works as the Director of San Isidro's Casa de la Cultura, a community center dedicated to promoting the local culture.  Marcelo is also a founding member and Director of Friends of San Isidro Cabañas (ASIC), which is a member organization of the National Working Group Against Mining in El Salvador (La Mesa).  In addition, Marcelo is an FMLN leader at the local level, serving as a party board member in the Cabañas chapter.  This week, communities in San Isidro, ASIC, and other social organizations gathered in front of the Casa de la Cultura to express their concern and to pressure local and national authorities to begin investigations regarding the whereabouts of Marcelo.  Students and teachers from San Isidro's schools participated in the protest carrying signs asking authorities to stop violence, corruption, and impunity.

Many social organizations at the national level are also joining forces to demand the return of Marcelo.  The Foundation for the Study and Application of Law (FESPAD) has assigned two lawyers to investigate the case.  The National Working Group Against Mining (La Mesa), the Coalition for Peace, Dignity, and Social Justice, and other organizations held a press conference on June 25, in which they denounced the disappearance of the activist.  Members of the participating organizations expressed that Marcelo has been threatened by members of ARENA after he took leadership in publicly denouncing the electoral fraud committed by the incumbent mayor of San Isidro, Ignacio Bautista, during the January 18th municipal elections.  Bautista was reelected for another period in the midst of fraud accusations.  Other activists were also persecuted after the municipal elections.  José Beltrán, the activist who denounced the electoral fraud before the Attorney General's office, was threatened with a gun by Milton Bautista, the mayor's brother who is a policeman.  According to La Mesa, Bautista is also a main promoter of the Pacific Rim mining activities in the area which Marcelo was organizing against, making him deeply unpopular with the municipal government.

In the press conference, representatives of the participating organizations stated, "The police authorities of Cabañas have been reluctant to find the whereabouts of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera and to investigate his disappearance....For those reasons, we demand that the highest authorities of public security (Director of the National Civilian Police, Attorney General, and Minister of Justice and Public Security) to act immediately, until they find our disappeared colleague and prosecute those responsible."  Another speaker was barely able to say, "We ask that he be returned alive and well," before she broke out in tears.

SHARE's delegation from Maryland Presbyterian Church and Brown Memorial Presbyterian Church visited Marcelo's relatives in San Isidro.  They met with Miguel Rivera, Marcelo's brother (pictured at left with SHARE delegate, Susan Saudek), who explained to them the circumstances under which Marcelo disappeared.  "Grassroots organizing is the most dangerous work because you risk your life and your family's," Miguel stated with a worn-out face.  "An example of this is what is happening to my brother," he added solemnly.  The delegation accompanied Miguel to the local Attorney General's office in Sensuntepeque, where they met with one of the judges and asked her to do everything in her power to find Marcelo.

Marcelo's disappearance is one more case of politically-motivated crimes that are dismissed by authorities as common or gang-related crimes.  Social organizations are concerned about the violence toward social justice and community activists that has increased since 2008.  Social justice organizations ask the international community to be alert and to support them in their struggle to bring these cases to justice.

Resources:

The National Working Group Against Mining in El Salvador's press release.

Friends of San Isidro Association's press release, Part One and Part Two.

Diario CoLatino. "Se Intensifican las Denuncias por Desaparición de Lider Social."

Diario CoLatino.  "Pobladores Denuncian Desaparición de Lider Social."

Prensa Gráfica.  "Desaparece Miembro del FMLN en Cabañas.

- Claudia Rodríguez, DC Policy Office Director