East Coast/Midwest CISPES Tour will take place fromOctober 16-31, 2010 - Miguel Rivera will be touring through Washington DC, Philadelphia, New York,Boston, Amherst, MA, Chicago, Madison, WI and Milwaukee, WI. 

More information about specific events here

Miguel Rivera Biography

Mr. Miguel Riverais a community activist from San Isidro, Cabañas, founder of the AsociaciónAmigos de San Isidro, Cabañas (Associationof Friends of San Isidro, Cabañas or ASIC) and current organizer with the Asociación deDesarrollo Económico Social  (Association for Economic and Social Development, ADES).  Both ASIC and ADES promote communityorganization and conduct popular education work to encourage people to participatein the decisions that impact their lives. When Pacific Rimdescended upon San Isidro in 2005 to explore for gold, the disastrousenvironmental effects were immediately felt. In San Isidro and both ASIC and ADES took on an active role to inform thepublic about the dangers and organize communities in resistance to the mine.They organized public forums, marches, and cultural activities.  In 2006, both organizations joined abroad-based, national coalition Mesa Nacional Frente a la Minería Metálicaen El Salvador (National RoundtableAgainst Metallic Mining), to amplify and expand the mining resistance movement.

As the resistance to the mine grew, so did violence and threats against theactivists. Mr. Rivera’s brother Marcelo—co-founder of ASIC and a vocal activistand opponent to mining—was forcibly disappeared, tortured, and murdered in Juneof 2009. After many months of community organizing and international pressure,4 people were sentenced to prison for perpetrating Marcelo’s murder.  However, the Mesa and the Rivera familycontinue to demand a comprehensive investigation into the intellectual authorsof the crime, which has yet to happen. Despite the murder of Marcelo, otherattempted murders and kidnappings, and countless death threats against activists,Rivera, ADES and ASIC continue to organize. According to Mr. Rivera, “Friendsand family members have told me to leave it [the resistance] behind. They say Iwill end up like Marcelo. But I tell them that if I leave it now, it will meanthat all of Marcelo’s work and his ultimate sacrifice will be for nothing. Icontinue because I want a better future for my community and my daughter, andin memory of my brother.”

Last year, Mr. Rivera and four members of the Mesa were awarded theLetelier-Moffit Human Rights Award from the Institute for Policy Studies inWashington DC for their courageous efforts in resisting mining in El Salvador.This month, Mr. Rivera will be visiting the US as part of CISPES' Stop theSuits Tour to speak about the organized resistance to metallic mining andspread the word about the Mesa’s energetic campaign to pass a nationalban on all metallic mining in El Salvador - which would be the first nationalban of its kind in the world.  Mr.Rivera is excited to have this chance to share and exchange strategies forinternational organizing against mining companies and the trade agreements thatprotect these transnationals, like the Central American Free Trade Agreement,CAFTA.