Mining Companies in El Salvador

An update from the Asociación de Comunidades Rurales de Chalatenango in El Salvador on the recent activity of foreign mining companies in the country notes the successful resistence of communities in Chalatenango.

An excerpt:

In the midst of the catastrophe caused by the rains, Au Martinique Silver tried to enter the region of the organized communities of the CCR in Chalatenango to begin mining exploitation and the environmental destruction which that will bring.

We the organized communities of the CCR-CRIPDES, along with mayors and the legislative representative for the FMLN in Chalatenango, Marco Tulio Mejía, understanding the grave damage which could be inflicted on the environment and the health of the population, gave a identity and defense class of how citizens struggle to protect the lives of present and future generations. On the 10th of October at 7:00 am, we the inhabitants of the affected communities of Guarjila, San José Las Flores and Nueva Trinidad formed a human chain in the community of Guarjila, carrying signs that rejected the presence of the transitional and chanting slogans in favor of organization and defense of the environment. We blocked the entrance of 2 Canadians and a group of workers, representatives of the mining company Au Martinique Silver Inc., who are in charge of initiating the excavations.

The representatives of the company, tried to convince us that mining would benefit the development of the Chalatenango region and that they had authorization from the central government. We the communities declared that the government never consulted us about the decision, thus we are ready to make our own decisions and we will make them responsibly. We asked that they leave the region, and a group of citizens accompanied them out of Chalatenango, to be sure that they would not return.

The piece also notes that "The USA transnational Commerce Group Corporation is currently exploiting the mining zone of San Rosa de Lima in the province of La Unión and plans to earn 600 million dollars."