Miguel Rivera in front of anti-mining mural in his town in northern El Salvador \/ credit: John Cavanagh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nAnother factor made this occasion different. Cavanagh, who is the director of IPS, explained that usually the awardees arrive in Washington to accept their awards and return home. But on this occasion, \u201cThey asked for our help. El Salvador had just been sued by PacRim in an international tribunal that argued that El Salvador had to allow it to mine gold or pay over $300 million in costs and \u2018foregone profits.\u2019 They also asked if we could help them with research on companies involved in gold mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
John had previously engaged with IPS in fighting against the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and had become familiar with the tribunal and the rules set by the World Bank involved in regulating a global economy. Robin Broad, for her part, had written her doctoral dissertation and first book on the World Bank, and she had worked on the bank at her job with the U.S. Treasury Department in the mid-1980s. But she was less familiar with the workings of the tribunal the World Bank had set up in 1964, \u201cThe International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).\u201d Its mission was to hear cases brought by foreign investors demanding compensation for lost profits from countries that tried to limit or regulate their activities. The couple figured they could be helpful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how we were drawn in,\u201d John explained, while emphasizing the extraordinary role local Salvadorans played in educating local communities about the dangers of landfills and then the dangers of gold mining. It was their groundbreaking work, often under dangerous conditions, that had earned them the Letelier award.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What happened next is a remarkable story of a growing North-South alliance that eventually went global, succeeding in two monumental victories: 1) a decision by ICSID in October 2016 that rejected PacRim\u2019s claims for damages, while ordering the corporation to pay El Salvador $8 million in costs, and 2) the world\u2019s first-ever comprehensive metals mining ban, brought by the El Salvador legislature in March 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Challenge<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\nUp until 2016, Cavanagh explained, \u201cwe never thought we would win.\u201d But that did not stop the momentum of coalition building, which had begun as early as 2005 by local village defenders, human rights advocates, farmers, lawyers, Catholic organizations and Oxfam America. They united to call themselves the National Roundtable on Metallic Mining, or La Mesa Frente a la Mineria Met\u00e1lica\u2014La Mesa for short. Their ultimate goal, beyond building resistance at the local level, \u201cseemed like a pipe dream,\u201d the authors wrote. That goal? \u201cGetting the Salvadoran Congress to pass a new national law banning metal mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the years, spurred on by their quest to find out who was responsible for Marcelo\u2019s murder, the water defenders and their international allies yielded a treasure trove of insights on how to fight the Men in Suits, regardless of the outcome. Here are just a few lessons learned from their struggles described in the book:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Listen to the horror stories coming from refugees, in this case, those fleeing Honduras. <\/strong>Marcelo; his brother, Miguel; and Vidalina made several trips to Honduras to learn more about the gold mines there. (Honduras had become a haven for Big Gold after the 2009 coup). They returned with \u201cshocking stories of rivers poisoned by cyanide, of dying fish and skin disease, of displaced communities, denuded forests, and corruption and conflict catalyzed by mining company payoffs.\u201d Those trips, the authors write, made a huge impression on the water defenders and \u201ccrystallized their thinking\u2026 They were vigilant researchers, thirsty to know more.\u201d<\/li>Seek out unexpected allies.<\/strong> One was Luis Parada, a Salvadoran government lawyer with a military background. As it turned out, he was a disciple of Sun Tsu, a Chinese military strategist from 2,500 years ago, who had written The Art of War<\/em>. Among the lessons Parada (and Sun Tsu) imparted: \u201cKnow thy adversaries\u201d\u2014be one step ahead of them, and also know your possible allies. \u201cBefriend a distant state while attacking a neighbor.\u201d Luis also offered valuable practical advice, including the fact that the Sheraton Hotel in the capital, with its bar and pool, \u201coffered some of the best intelligence in El Salvador.\u201d Another unexpected ally was the ultra-conservative Archbishop Saenz Lacalle, a member of the right wing Opus Dei. \u201cAll it had taken was the word cyanide,\u201d the authors explain, to cause him to oppose mining. His replacement in 2008, Archbishop Escobar, followed suit. He was \u201chardly an activist cleric,\u201d but he \u201chad long-held unexpected and firm views on mining,\u201d and in his inaugural messages called on the government to reject mining operations in El Salvador. Getting the Catholic Church behind the water defenders was crucial. The martyrdom of Archbishop Oscar Romero, \u201cwhose photo is omnipresent throughout the country,\u201d was no doubt a factor for widespread community support behind the water defenders, as was the encyclical put out by Pope Francis urging priests to take to the streets to defend the environment. Yet another surprise endorsement came from a member of one of El Salvador\u2019s richest families and a leader of the right-wing ARENA party, which dominated the legislature. It turned out that John Wright Sol had a passion for the environment. Also noteworthy: His family\u2019s vast sugar plantations consumed a lot of water. As he studied the impact of mining on water, he reached out to fellow members of ARENA. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to turn this into mining companies are the devil,\u201d he advised. Instead, he chose to emphasize that \u201cevery citizen in the country must have access to clear water.\u201d<\/li>Be wary of corporate PR campaigns.<\/strong> PacRim put out a report emphasizing that a whopping 36,000 jobs would be created from its mining operations, a vastly inflated claim. In radio interviews, PacRim aimed separate messages to the ARENA party and to the left-wing FMLN party, in which it claimed revenues would fund social agendas. Trips abroad arranged by PacRim often resulted in swaying politicians, whether on the left or right, to support their corporate agenda.<\/li>No matter how big, corporations can make mistakes. <\/strong>OceanaGold, a Canadian-Australian mining company which took over PacRim in 2014, had put on a brave face after the ICSID ruled against PacRim, acting as though it had won, and refusing to cough up the $8 million the company owed El Salvador. Yet it made a fatal error by choosing its mining operations in The Philippines as an example of its environmentally pristine practices. Robin Broad knew otherwise, and along with other international allies had cultivated a professional relationship with the governor of the Philippine province where OceanaGold had its mine. Governor Carlos Padilla arrived in El Salvador on the eve of the crucial legislative vote on the mining bill and presented a \u201cbefore and after\u201d slideshow to the Environmental Committee. He pictured a lush landscape before the mining, contrasted with images of waste-filled \u201ctailings ponds,\u201d dead trees, dried-up springs and rivers, dead fish on river banks, and, as he explained, \u201cNo access to water for drinking or for irrigation.\u201d He ended with an appeal to future generations. \u201cGrandpa,\u201d he imagined them asking. \u201cWhy did you allow mining?\u201d <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\nHis presentation was \u201csort of a clincher,\u201d Cavanagh told me. \u201cIt raised the level of indignation.\u201d The legislative vote followed soon afterwards, on March 29, 2019. The results were stunning, with 69 votes tallied against OceanaGold, zero nays and zero abstentions. Shouts of S\u00ed, Se Puede!<\/em>\u2014\u201cYes we can!\u201d\u2014erupted from the floor, as members of La Mesa waved banners that read, \u201cNo a la Miner\u00eda, S\u00ed a la Vida\u201d\u2014No to Mining. Yes to Life!<\/p>\n\n\n\nChildren performing on the 10th anniversary of El Salvadorean water defender Marcelo Rivera\u2019s assassination \/ credit: John Cavanagh<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nToday, the water defenders remain cautiously optimistic, though constantly on guard. In the past, mining corporations have been able to convince even leftist governments that mining is good for the economy. Cavanagh speculates mayors of small towns, pressured to provide jobs, may have been behind the assassination of Marcelo Rivera and other water defenders.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But to date, Marcelo\u2019s killers have never been identified. On an equally sobering note, he and Board remind us in the book that \u201cover 1,700 environmental defenders had been killed across 50 countries between 2002 and 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I asked John for an update since finishing his book in mid-2020. Nayib Bukele, El Salvador\u2019s \u201cnew Trump-like president,\u201d he wrote, \u201chasn\u2019t raised mining, and it doesn\u2019t look like he is personally interested. He knows the public opinion polls that showed that the overwhelming majority of Salvadorans are opposed to mining.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, he added, \u201cWe remain worried. El Salvador, like all developing countries, is suffering economically after the pandemic, and other countries have increased mining to get more revenues. So, La Mesa remains vigilant against any actions that could indicate that the government wants to mine.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We can only hope that water defenders around the world will strengthen their alliances. Fortunately, they now have a handbook that will help them in their journey of resistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charlotte Dennett<\/em><\/strong> is the co-author with Gerard Colby of <\/em>Thy Will be Done. The Conquest of the Amazon: Nelson Rockefeller and Evangelism in the Age of Oil. Her new book is <\/em>The Crash of Flight 3804: A Lost Spy, A Daughter\u2019s Quest, and the Deadly Politics of the Great Game for Oil.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\nThe Water Defenders: How Ordinary People Saved a Country from Corporate Greed<\/em><\/strong> by Robin Broad and John Cavanagh. Boston: Beacon Press; 2nd edition. March 23, 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\nFor a bit more critical review see: https:\/\/www.sierraclub.org\/sierra\/el-salvador-s-water-defenders-and-fight-against-toxic-mining<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n