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El Salvador


El Salvador vs Pacific Rim: the price of saying ‘no’ to a gold mine
El Salvador is defending itself against a US$301m lawsuit filed after it blocked a mining project to protect the country’s heavy-polluted water supply. The imminent verdict will set a precedent amid a growing trend of companies suing governments when they can’t exploit their natural resources.
For the love of water: El Salvador’s mining ban
Over 90 percent of El Salvador’s surface water is contaminated with industrial chemicals, making it unsuitable to drink even if the water is boiled, chlorinated or filtered beforehand. A new action plan for passing a nationwide ban has begun to unfold, as Salvadorans await the outcome of the Pacific Rime ICSID case.
El Salvador: “Arbitration with Pacific Rim has cost the State $12.6 million”
Luis Parada, a lawyer with the law firm Foley Hoag, is optimistic that the company, Pacific Rim, will not prevail in the proceedings.
Bringing community perspectives to investor-state arbitration: the Pac Rim case
Civil society organisations can play an important role in carrying and strengthening community voices in arbitration processes, by making submissions to arbitral tribunals.
Analysis: OceanaGold vs El Salvador: Foreshadowing ’trade’ under the TPP?
The Central American country of El Salvador could be forced to pay US$301 million to Canadian-Australian mining multinational OceanaGold as the two face off in a World Bank investor-state tribunal with proven tendency to favor corporate interests over arguments for protecting national sovereignty, the environment, and human rights.
Stop the suits tour: International investment agreements threaten people and the environment from El Salvador to Canada
In anticipation of an imminent ruling from a little-known arbitration tribunal at the World Bank that could force El Salvador to pay Canadian-Australian mining firm OceanaGold US$301 million, a Salvadoran delegation is visiting Canada to discuss how investor-state arbitration threatens democratic decision-making, public health and the environment here and beyond our borders.
El Salvador, Water is more precious than gold
The International Trade Union Confederation calls on the government of El Salvador to denounce all treaties establishing ISDS proceedings.
Will El Salvador be forced to pay $301 million for valuing clean water over gold?
The Central American state of El Salvador could be forced to pay US$301 million in damages to an Australian-Canadian mining company, OceanaGold, after the company’s application for a mining license was rejected on the basis of the projected environmental damage it would cause.
El Salvador: Talks to enable FTA with Canada to be finalized
Rigoberto Monge, the economic advisor of the Salvadoran Industrial Association (ASI), reported that El Salvador and Canada are finalizing a free trade agreement.
Australian company sues El Salvador for its right to pillage
Australian-based company OceanaGold is suing El Salvador for US$301 million for its “right” to continue operating a gold mine that is destroying the Central American nation’s water supply.
The carrot, the stick, and the seeds: US development policy faces resistance in El Salvador
While the seeds dispute was an effective rallying point, social movements must confront the elephant in the room – CAFTA.
CAFTA investor rights undermining democracy and the environment: Pacific Rim mining case
Pacific Rim Mining Corp., a Canadian-based multinational firm, sought to establish a massive gold mine using water-intensive cyanide ore processing in the basin of El Salvador’s largest river, Rio Lempa.
Seeds of discord or seeds for development – which way for US policy with El Salvador?
The controversy over government procurement of seeds in El Salvador is a clear example of how US free trade agreements with developing countries can undermine national development goals, as Oxfam warned during the negotiation and debate over CAFTA, writes Stephanie Burgos.
Progress made on El Salvador deal
Washington and El Salvador moved closer to agreement on a $277 million U.S. aid package Tuesday after the Obama administration took steps to defuse a contentious trade dispute over a modest Salvadoran program to buy seeds for poor farmers.
US tying aid to agribusiness in El Salvador, groups warn
The US State Department stands accused of conditioning development aid to El Salvador to benefit and boost foreign agribusiness in the Central American nation.
World Bank tribunal threatens El Salvador’s development
Last week more than 300 international and national civil society organizations wrote to the president of the World Bank, Jim Yong Kim, during its biannual meeting in Washington, denouncing the bank’s involvement in the case of Pac Rim Cayman LLC v. El Salvador.
El Salvador groups accuse Pacific Rim of ’assault on democratic governance’
A multinational mining company has been accused of launching "a direct assault on democratic governance" by suing El Salvador for more than US$300m (£179m) in compensation, after the tiny Central American country refused to allow it to dig for gold amid growing opposition to the exploitation of its mineral wealth.
The global fight against corporate rule
Activists are challenging rules that grant corporations the right to sue governments.
Peru starts talks on FTA with Russia, Turkey, Israel
Peru’s Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, Magali Silva, said that Peru has started the first talks toward an eventual free trade agreement between Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Israel.
Association Agreement between EU and Central America enters into effect after ratification by El Salvador
With the recent ratification by the Salvadorean members of the House of Representatives, the Association Agreement between Central America and the European Union (EU) will enter into effect on August 1st. The agreement has been strongly rejected by social organizations.