Anti-Mining Activist Marcelo Rivera Disappears: July 2009

Marcelo Rivera, Community leader and Anti-Mining activist, Disappeared since June 18^th

Update, July 2:  Gustavo Marcelo Rivera disappeared the afternoon of June 18, 2009, in San Isidro, Cabanas.  A body has been found that is suspected to be Marcelo’s body.  DNA tests are currently underway to determine if the body is, indeed, Marcelo’s.

Below is the press release regarding Marcelo’s disappearance from the National Table Against Mining, June 2009.

National Table Against Mining Press Release, June 2009:

Regarding the disappearance of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera, on Thursday June 18^th 2009, the communities and organizations in the National Table Against Mining express the following:

1. Gustavo Marcelo Rivera is a community leader and activist for the environment, focusing specifically on community resistance to the mining activities of Pacific Rim, the Canadian company that has sued El Salvador under CAFTA for having negated permission for mining exploitation in the El Dorado mine.

   At the moment of his disappearance, Rivera was a legal representative of the Association of Friends of San Isidro (ASIC), a citizens organization and member of the National Table Against Mining, located in the municipality of San Isidro, Cabanas.

   He was also the acting director of a cultural center in San Isidro and a member of the Departmental Directive of the FMLN in Cabanas.
   
   

2. Gustavo Marcelo Rivera also led the struggle for democracy in his municipality and in the country. Due to his participation in civil protest against fraud during the municipal and legislative elections on January 18^th in San Isidro, he has been threatened and followed, according to family members, friends and residents of San Isidro.

   The municipal elections in San Isidro were won –in the middle of scandalous denouncements of fraud– by the right wing ARENA candidate Jose Ignacio Bautista, strong supporter of Pacific Rim in the area. Information from journalists signaled that at the moment of his reelection, Mayor Bautista had brought voters from Honduras, Nicaragua and other municipalities of the country.
   
   

3. Local police authorities in San Isidro have been reluctant to give information about the case and investigate Rivera’s disappearance. We demand that the highest authorities of public security (the Director of the National Civilian Police, the Attorney General, and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security) act immediately, until Rivera is found and those responsible for his disappearance are prosecuted.
   
   

4. The disappearance of Gustavo Marcelo has happened in a climate of insecurity and growing delinquency. But, being that he is a social activist and political leader, there is a strong possibility that his disappearance is due to motives that transcend common delinquency. For this reason, we demand a profound investigation of the case, because the material and intellectual authors should be punished.

              — National Table Against Mining

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