[antiwar-van] JAN 7 EMERGENCY ACTION: Honour Murdered Anti-Mining Activists in El Salvador

[Tamara Hansen]

EMERGENCY ACTION: Candle-light Vigil to Honour Murdered Anti-Mining Activists in El Salvador

THURSDAY, JANUARY 7
4:30pm – 7:00pm
Pacific Rim Mining Offices
625 Howe Street (at Dunsmuir)
Vancouver, British Columbia

Please join us for a candle light vigil to honor the memory of slain anti-mining activists in Cabañas, El Salvador and in solidarity with the people of El Salvador fighting for control of their land and resources.

These escalating attacks of terror against defenders of human rights and environmental justice must stop, and they demand a response here in Vancouver. The head office the of Pacific Rim Mining Corporation, whose efforts to force through mining operations in El Salvador have led to huge widespread protest and the ensuing repression, is located in downtown Vancouver. 

The recent terror includes:

Dec 26: Dora Alicia Sorto Recinos - murdered and 8 months pregnant; 2-year-old shot but survived. Member of Environmental Committee of Cabañas
Dec 20: Ramiro Rivera and Felicita Echeverria - murdered. Previous assassination attempt in August. Vice-President of Environmental Committee Cabañas.
Oct 13: Dolores Alessandra Arenibal Velasco - abducted. Daughter of Elizabeth Velasco Enriquez who is an anti-mining organizer.
June 30: Marcelo Rivera - tortured and murdered. Political, social, environmental activist and teacher.

We ask for your solidarity in honoring the memory of these brave individuals who chose to say "Si a la vida, no a la mineria" - "Yes to life, no to mining" by Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining Corp.

We ask for your solidarity to demand an end to the culture of impunity in El Salvador and bring the intellectual and material authors of these crimes to justice.

We ask for your solidarity in asking Pacific Rim Mining Corp CEO Thomas Shrake and the Board of Directors to recognize the social conflict and culture of fear and terror the proposed mining project is causing to families and communities in Cabañas, El Salvador and to make the moral and SOCIALLY RESPONSIBLE decision to:

-Immediately withdraw from Cabañas and cease all efforts to mine gold from the El Dorado site.
-Immediately withdraw its disgraceful lawsuit against the government of El Salvador. It is absolutely disgraceful for a company to sue a poor nation like El Salvador, especially when the Salvadoran people and government have every right to prevent cyanide gold extraction from destroying their lands and their communities.
-Cooperate fully with the official investigations surrounding the murders of Alicia Sorto Recinos, Ramiro Rivera and Marcelo Rivera, and the abduction of Dolores Velasco, providing full disclosure on all the people the company has contracted in the region and any other monetary transactions it has conducted among community members, organizations and local government officials.

Unite Against Mining Exploitation in El Salvador! Yes to Life, No to Mining! Stop the Repression Now!

CANDLES WILL BE PROVIDED BUT YOU CAN ALSO BRING YOUR OWN

For more information:

Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador
 http://www.cispes.org/

Democracy Now Video on Recent Violence in El Salvador:
http://www.democracynow.org/2009/12/29/anti_mining_activists_killed_in_el

Facebook Event: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#/event.php?eid=279570869656&index=1

Organized by the Coalition in Solidarity for a United Latin America.
604-715-2979	scula_van at yahoo.ca

Supported by:
Vancouver Committee in Support of Radio Cadena Mi Gente in El Salvador
Concerned members of Canada's Salvadoran and Latin American community in Vancouver
Concerned students in Vancouver's Salvadoran and Latin American community






 








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