Category Archives: Defending Natural Resources

Rosie Ramsey showing international support for the water law at a protest in San Salvador

Tired of Waiting for a Law to Protect their Water, Salvadorans Take to the Streets

By Alexandra Early   The Salvadoran people have been waiting for seven years for the Legislative Assembly to pass a comprehensive law to protect their right to safe and clean water. In July they decided they are done waiting and staged a series of rallies, road blocks and press conferences to pressure the legislature to […]

Female farmers protesting the free trade agreement with Europe

On July 4th, Salvadoran Farmers Declare Independence from Food Imports, GMOs

On July 4th,the Movement of Popular Resistance (MPR-12) and Confederation of the Agrarian Reform (CONFRAS) held a rally and press conference in front the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly  demanding the assembly pass a Food Sovereignty Law with a gender equality focus. The MPR-12 is a coalition conformed unions, organizations of farmers and poor urban folks and […]

30 Activists from Around the Globe Visit El Salvador to Support Anti-Mining Fight

From May 10th to 13th, thirty activists from 12 different countries, including Canada, the U.S., Germany, Mexico, Ecuador, Guatemala and Honduras, participated in a fact finding mission in El Salvador to investigate the effects of gold mining on the environment, public health and social cohesion. The delegation was organized by the National Rountable Against Mining […]

MRZine Reports: “Rogue NGOs” Tackle Pacific Rim in El Salvador

November 11th, 2012, by Alexandra Early and Janice Morrill On October 20th, hundreds of people marched in Cabañas, El Salvador to voice their opposition to the proposed gold mining project of Pacific Rim, a Canadian mining company. The anti-mining movement in El Salvador has been growing over the past decade and in 2007, under pressure […]

Honduras News: More Violence in the Aguan & Protests against Mining Concessions

CounterPunch Magazine: Central America’s Newest “Death Squad Democracy” September 14, 2012 by Andy Thayer, part of the September La Voz de los de Abajo delegation My first day in Honduras last week was also my first in a truly “Third World” country, though from what I’ve seen, portions of Russia and the Appalachians could give […]

Salvadoran Environment Ministry Confirms High Metal Levels in River Polluted by Mine

The results of water samples taken by the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MARN), which were collected two thousand five hundred meters from the bed of the San Sebastian River, in the area of the hamlet of El Comercio in Santa Rosa de Lima, confirmed the presence of cyanide and iron, among other […]

Anti-Mining Update: Solidarity with Panama and The Social Costs of the ICSID Trial

1. The Costs of ICSID Arbitration and the Consequences for Social Rights in El Salvador (See Below) 2. Salvadoran Activists Hold Protest in Solidarity with Indigenous Mining Resisters in Panama By Jan Morrill, International Allies Against Metallic Mining in El Salvador On February 10th, as clashes continued between the government of Panama and indigenous groups […]

Connecting Movements from Wisconsin to El Salvador, Citizens Say NO to Mining

February 6, 2012 The struggle against mining is gaining force in the state of Wisconsin. On Thursday, January 26th the Wisconsin Assembly (which has a strong Republican majority) passed a bill that would make the process of gaining iron mining permits in the state easier.  The bill is called AB 426, and will now go […]

Mining Ban: Good for the Grand Canyon, but Not for El Salvador?

By Sarah Anderson From the Huffington Post With patriotic fanfare, the Obama administration announced this week that it would ban new uranium mining projects around the Grand Canyon. At a ceremony at the National Geographic Society in Washington, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said the ban was “the right approach for this priceless American landscape.” He […]

Sister Cities Responds to Inaccurate Commerce Group Statements

November 23, 2011   On November 21st, Milwaukee Public Radio Station WUWM invited Matt Hrodey, a journalist with Milwaukee Magazine, and John Machulak, the lawyer for the mining company Commerce Group, to an on air interview about the Commerce Group’s actions in El Salvador and its suit for $100 million against the Salvadoran government.   […]