El Salvador: Activists link mining co. to murders

Environmental activists in El Salvador allege that managers of a gold mine owned by a Canadian corporation are implicated in the murders of three anti-mining activists. The killings took place between June and December 2009 in the central department (province) of Cabañas, where the Pacific Rim El Salvador company, a subsidiary of the Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Corp, has been exploring for gold and silver since 2002. In 2008 authorities in El Salvador refused to issue the company a mining permit for the El Dorado mine, 65 km northeast of the capital, after an intense anti-mining campaign by civil society organizations, local authorities and residents, and Catholic Church leaders. Through a U.S. subsidiary, Pacific Rim is suing the Salvadoran state for 700 million dollars in compensation for lost investment, under provisions in the Central America Free Trade Agreement with the U.S. The first activist killed was Marcelo Rivera, a 37-year-old member of the Association of Friends of San Isidro Cabañas and one of the leaders of the opposition to Pacific Rim's operations in the area. His tortured body was found down a well on Jun. 30.