Farewell Father Jon Cortina

On December 12th, El Salvador lost another voice of justice. Father Jon taught at the UCA and administered to the community of Guarjila in Chalatenango. During the war, he was a voice of opposition, like the other Jesuits who were assassinated in the UCA on November 16, 1989. After the war, Father Jon started an organization called Pro Busqueda, focused on finding children abducted by military troops during the Civil War. Originally from the Basque Region of Spain, Father Jon embraced El Salvador and the Salvadoran people as his own. He will be dearly missed. Jon Cortina's health started deteriorating with a brain hemmorhage two weeks ago. Other complications in other major organs followed. He died at age 71. The next few days he will be remembered and laid to rest in El Salvador. May his death be a calling for young people and all people of faith, to become beacons of justice for El Salvador.

House Resolution 458 to recognize the work of the Four US Churchwomen just passed!

Thanks for all of you who called and wrote your members of Congress asking for Ita, Jean, Dorothy and Maura to be recognized in the congress for their work with the Salvadoran people. The bill was sponsored by Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA). View a list of cosponsors to see if your representative supported it.

Salvadoran Legislators approve changes to Salvadoran laws to make way for CAFTA

Changes to the law include manditory prison sentences for those who don't comply with intellectual property laws and removing tarrifs on goods entering customs. More to come. Stay tuned for ways you can respond.

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In this issue

Communities Educate and Resist Against Proposed Mining Project in Chalatenango and Cabanas Departments

By Claire Mack, SHARE DC Intern

On October 10, 2005, 300 residents from Guarjila, San Jose Las Flores and Nueva Trinidad joined together and formed a human chain to block representatives from Canadian mining company Au Martinique Silver from entering their communities. Carrying signs and chanting about the importance of the environment, they participated in the first formal protest of the prospective mining operation that threatens to exploit further El Salvador’s natural resources and endanger the health of thousands of Salvadorans.

The new mining in El Salvador will be undertaken as a joint project by at least two Canadian companies, Au Martinique Silver, Inc. and Pacific Rim, a branch of Intrepid Minerals. Au Martinique is a new company that has claims in the Chalatenango region. Pacific Rim has previously mined in El Salvador, but now has new claims in San Isidro, in the department of Cabanas. The companies have been granted 23 licenses for the exploration and exploitation of possible gold and silver concentrations by the Salvadoran Office of Mining and Hydrocarbons. Exploration has already been carried out in 15 of these areas that are now ready for exploitation. Even with these licenses, according to mining laws, the companies are only allowed to explore and mine with the permission of land owners in the specific regions. This part of the law has been ignored, however, and exploration has been undertaken despite the strong objections of members in the affected communities about the potential costs.

Mining proponents claim that the mines would bring money to one of the most impoverished areas in El Salvador and could reduce Salvadoran migration to the US. These effects are very unlikely, however, since Pacific Rim projects that mining will bring $30 million in profits to North American shareholders, but only $300,000 a year to the San Isidro county government. Furthermore, the investment would give Pacific Rim influence over local development strategies and projects. The additional revenue comes at too high a cost for the foreign investment through mines to be accepted.

Community members assert that mining will not improve the long term economic situations in Chalatenango and San Isidro. Even though these projects would introduce new job opportunities, the companies project that only 300 Salvadorans would be employed, and that these jobs would last for only 8 years. These will not be quality jobs, however, since the companies bring their own workers for the more technical, better paid jobs. After the mines are depleted, the companies would leave the region in a worse situation than it is in now: jobs in the mining operation will end, leaving communities again without employment, and workers and communities will live with the environmental effects of the mines. The Association for Social and Economic Development (ADES), a Salvadoran NGO, confirmed the fears of residents by stating that the waste from the mining will pollute local water supplies with arsenic, cyanide, and aluminum residue. This waste would not only adversely affect the already fragile state of local agriculture and fisheries, but would also put the health of nearly 10,000 people at risk. Thus, this mining project is neither environmentally or economically sustainable for the communities and the earth.

The movement against the prospective mining operation has grown since the first protests in Chalatenango as more people become aware of the risks posed by the project. Through community organizations, residents of the affected areas in El Salvador have researched the results of past mining operations in the country, and have realized how real the risks are. The Association of Rural Communities of Chalatenango (CCR) shared these impacts will all of the communities in Chalatenango. A forum is also scheduled for December 15^th at the Lutheran University in San Salvador to discuss the impacts of the proposed mining project. Through this education, the communities are expanding and strengthening organized opposition around this imminent threat. SHARE supports community organizing work so that communities will be more united, and have the information, tools and mechanisms they need to face challenges affecting them.

With this information, the CCR has presented their demands to the government, calling for the mining companies to leave the region and for President Saca to protect the health and well-being of Salvadorans. They have been joined in their demands by residents from San Isidro and also by sister parishes in the US. These protests and demands will continue until the mining companies give up their mining prospects and until the people in the region can live without the fear that their communities will be destroyed by mining.

The entrance of CAFTA into force in 2006 will strengthen multinationals’ rights to exploration and resource extraction. As we receive further information about US companies involved in mining and resource exploration in El Salvador, we will let you know. Stay tuned for actions.

Sources:

Other Sites

• CEICOM http://www.ceicomobservatoriodelsur.org/