In a six-day period over Christmas, two prominent anti-mining activists in El Salvador were shot dead in broad daylight. First, Ramiro Rivera Gomez, vice-president of the Cabanas Environment Committee, which is campaigning to stop Canadian mining company Pacific Rim from opening a gold mine in the area, was killed while walking with his 14-year-old daughter. Six days later, Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto was shot returning from washing laundry in a nearby lake. She was eight months pregnant and another prominent member of the CEC.

Below, Alexis Stoumbelis (AS) discusses the issues around the murders and anti-mining resistance.

MK: Why has there been such a concerted campaign against Pacific Rim’s gold mine?

AS: The biggest opposition to Pacific Rim’s gold mine is due to the community’s concerns about severe environmental damage, specifically the risk of cyanide contamination and the massive amounts of water that would be used during the extraction, estimated at 10.4 liters/second.

MK: Are PacRim suspected to be involved in the murders?

AS: Many community members in San Isidro and Nueva Trinidad believe that Pacific Rim is involved in the murders due to their personal interactions with paid company “promoters” like Oscar Menjívar, who was arrested for the attempted murder of Ramiro Rivera in August. Pacific Rim denies he was ever an employee.

The international community has joined with the anti-mining movement in El Salvador in calling for a thorough and transparent investigation into all of the assassinations, the attempted kidnappings and the death threats to find out who is really behind this violence. The systematic and targeted nature of these murders suggests a concerted effort to eliminate the leadership of an effective resistance movement and to intimidate others out of joining the struggle. If I were a detective, I would ask, “Who stands to benefit from eliminating the leadership of an anti-mining movement?”

One thing that is clear is that the continued presence of Pacific Rim in the community despite widespread opposition and despite having been denied the mining permits has created a climate of violence, regardless of whether they are directly involved or not. The only ethical thing for the company to do at this point is to leave El Salvador and to withdraw the lawsuit.
MK: Has the conduct of mining companies in the developing world improved over the last decade or so?

AS: The recent murders of mining organizers in Mexico and Guatemala, and horrendous toxic waste spills such as at Barrick Gold’s North Mara mine in Tanzania, makes it very hard for the mining companies to convince us that their conduct as improved. What has changed is the mining companies’ attention to and investment in projecting an image of themselves as socially and environmentally responsible. In many ways this has been due to effective consumer campaigns like “No Dirty Gold” and some increased regulation but the companies have responded by changing their image, not by profoundly altering their conduct. Why else would they spend so much time and money lobbying against environmental or labor regulations? 

MK: Do you think the protests will succeed?

AS: Yes. The community has already won the struggle and Pacific Rim will not be able to open the mine.

The community protests in San Isidro forced Pacific Rim to cease most operations in 2008 and street blockades in Trinidad prevented the mining equipment from entering the neighborhood. In just a few years, the National Coalition against Metallic Mining in El Salvador has transformed mining from a local concern to a national issue; in 2007, over 62% of the population was opposed to mining according to a poll by the University of Central America. The opposition to mining has become so widespread that the presidential candidates from every political party, including the most conservative, spoke out against gold mining before the 2009 elections.  

El Salvador alone has the decision whether or not to grant Pacific Rim the mining permits, which they have twice denied. In desperation, Pacific Rim has brought a lawsuit for hundreds of millions of dollars against El Salvador through CAFTA and the World Bank but the World Bank does not have the authority to grant the mining permits. The lawsuit is a last-ditch effort to salvage some profits, but Pacific Rim has already lost, as the El Dorado mine will not open.