Calls on U.S. to stopcorporate abuses under free trade, honors fellow activists who were murdered in2009

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Washington, DC –Francisco Pineda, from the Environmental Committee of Cabañas in El Salvador, was one of sixactivists to be awarded the 2011 Goldman Environmental Prize in recognition ofthe courageous struggle against gold mining in El Salvador.

During Wednesday’s ceremony at the National Museum ofNatural History, Pineda reiterated the call of communities throughout CentralAmerica devastated by gold mining, “We can live without gold, but we can’t livewithout water.” According to studies, the mine proposed by Pacific Rim inPineda’s small farming community of San Isidro would use between 75 and 110liters of water per second and two tons of cyanide per day to extract gold.