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May 27, 2010: INTERNATIONAL DAY OF ACTION AGAINST MINING AND FREE TRADE IN EL SALVADOR: STREET THEATER AND PROTEST @ THE CANADIAN CONSULATE! WHERE: 1251 6th Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets, Manhattan, NY DIRECTIONS: (B, D, F, or V to 47th-50th Sts) WHEN: 12 Noon (sharp!) - 2PM
RSVP and find out how you can help here.
STOP THE SUITS. STOP CAFTA! PACIFIC RIM MINING: DROP THE LAWSUIT, LEAVE EL SALVADOR! U.S. CONGRESS: PEOPLE AND THE PLANET BEFORE CORPORATE PROFIT. TRADE POLICY REFORM NOW! In 2009, the government of El Salvador denied the permit for a gold mining project by Canadian mining company Pacific Rim that risked contaminating the Lempa River, the country's primary source of drinking water. Pacific Rim Mining proposed mining project would use 2 tons of cyanide per day, and 10 liters of water every second, at the El Dorado gold mine in San Isidro, El Salvador. Now, Pacific Rim bringing a case against El Salvador to the World Bank's International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) under the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) in a shameless attempt to strongarm El Salvador into allowing this potentially devastating project to proceed or otherwise extort over $100 million dollars from El Salvador for depriving the mining company of profits it MIGHT have made! Help defend the Salvadoran people's right to protect their environment from the threats of metallic mining! WHAT WE'LL BE DOING: Grim Reapers representing the Pacific Rim Mining Company will will staff a table giving out free samples of cyanide contaminated mineral water. The table will be lined with dead and dying people who drank the cyanide contaminated water. Pacific Rim CEO Thomas Shrake will encourage passersby to try the samples as the reapers give them cups of contaminated water, add an extra shot of cyanide, and leer threateningly at their gold jewelery. Meanwhile protesters will denounce Pacific Rim and the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, calling for passage of Canadian House of Commons Bill C-300, An Act Respecting Corporate Accountability for the Activities of Mining, Oil or Gas Corporations in Developing Countries, and the TRADE Act (HR 3012/ S. 2821), legislation in the US Congress that would require new environmental safeguards to be added to the Central America Free Trade Agreement FOR MORE INFO: Call 917.214.3479 (NY CISPES) or email info@tradejustice.net
Sponsored by ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: Grassroots organizing in El Salvador has stopped North American gold mining companies in their tracks. But now Pacific Rim Mining is using provisions in the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to sue the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions of dollars. Pacific Rim argues that El Salvador's refusal to grant mining permits due to environmental and public health concerns is a violation of CAFTA's investor rights provisions. Initial proceedings in Pacific Rim's suit against El Salvador will be heard at the World Bank in Washington, D.C., on May 31 and June 1. Join activists across North America on May 27 to insist:
1) Pacific Rim Mining must respect El Salvador's sovereign decision to prioritize human health and the environment above corporate profits.
2) Congress must overhaul our failed trade policy, which allows companies like Pacific Rim to challenge laws and government decisions that limit their ability to make money.
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