Another anti-mining protester assassinated in El Salvador

Another opponent of Pacific Rim's El Dorado mine killed in El Salvador

2nd community activist murdered in less than a week as Canadian-U.S. gold mining company moves forward with legal case against Salvadoran government

On December 26, Dora “Alicia” Sorto Recinos, age 32, was murdered in El Salvador, the second anti-mining activist killed in less than a week in the small community of Trinidad in the department of Cabañas. Sorto Recinos was eight months pregnant and carrying her two-year old child when shot after doing laundry at a nearby river. She and her husband, José Santos Rodríguez, were outspoken opponents of the non-operational El Dorado gold mine, which Pacific Rim, a Vancouver, B.C.-based company, is desperate to open despite widespread community and governmental opposition.

José Santos Rodríguez is a board member of the Environmental Committee of Cabañas, an organization that formed to educate the public about the health and environmental risks of cyanide contamination from gold extraction. The Committee's vice-president, Ramiro Rivera, was gunned down on December 20 despite having been under 24-hour police protection since being shot eight times in August. Salvadoran President Mauricio Funes vowed to investigate that murder, stating, “I hope this case will not remain in impunity the way that so many others do.” These attacks follow the late June kidnapping, torture and assassination of anti-mining activist Marcelo Rivera (no relation), in the nearby municipality of San Isidro.

 Earlier this year, Sorto Recinos reported that her husband had received death threats. Oscar Menjívar, the man awaiting trial for shooting Ramiro Rivera in August, had previously attacked José Santos Rodríguez with a small machete. Menjívar's neighbors report that he was one of Pacific Rim Mining's paid “promoters,” though Pacific Rim denies this claim.

The ongoing violence in Cabañas, including numerous assaults, attempted kidnappings and death threats, seems to be centered around the controversial presence of Pacific Rim Mining in the region, with prominent anti-mining leaders coming under attack. Pacific Rim ceased operations at El Dorado in 2008 after local protests gained support, and the Salvadoran government subsequently refused to grant extraction permits. President Funes stated his opposition to the project during his presidential campaign earlier this year, and University of Central America polling show that over 62% of Salvadorans oppose gold mining.

In response, Pacific Rim opened an investor-state arbitration case against the Salvadoran government in April under the U.S.-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), filing the suit through a subsidiary, Pac Rim Cayman, based in Reno, Nevada (Canadian companies are not eligible to file CAFTA suits, as Canada is not party to the agreement). According to Pacific Rim CEO Thomas Shrake, the company is seeking “hundreds of millions” of dollars in the arbitration, which is scheduled to begin in early 2010.

In November, Pacific Rim received notice from the New York Stock Exchange that it is in danger of being delisted after posting net losses for five straight years. The company then announced that it will seek to generate CDN $2.36 million by selling additional shares of stock to finance its legal case against the Salvadoran government. The company does not have any other mining projects in operation.

~ Source: CISPES ~

~ See also: Anti-Mining Activists Killed in El Salvador ~