Warnings about the human and environmental costs of “free trade” went unheeded. Now the most vulnerable Central Americans are paying the price.
What “Free Trade” Has Done to Central America
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mining
The Fight to Keep Toxic Mining—and the World Bank—Out of El Salvador
Hundreds of protesters recently gathered at the World Bank to shame a gold mining firm’s shakedown of one of Central America’s poorest countries.
Meet the Company Suing El Salvador for the Right to Poison Its Water
In an obscure World Bank court, a multinational mining firm is suing El Salvador for attempting to protect its citizens from deadly mining pollution.
Seeking Justice in Canada: Hitting Mining Companies Where They Live
Canadian mining companies have long evaded responsibility for abuses carried out by their subsidiaries in the developing world. That could be about to change.
The M23 Surrenders: A Pyrrhic Victory in Eastern Congo
Given the roots of the ongoing conflict in North Kivu, military victory amounts to exchanging one group of exploiters for another.
Making Myanmar Work
On May 20, 2013, former general Thein Sein became the first Burmese president to visit the White House in almost 50 years. From a pariah state noted for human rights violations under its brutal military regime, Myanmar turned a corner in 2010-2011 with the release of...
Blood Phones and the Congo
Although most of the developed world has long been unburdened with knowledge of the violence in the DRC, the slaughter is intricately linked to electronic components carried by millions of people in the United States and Europe.
A Hakka Man Farms Rare Earth in South China
First of all, it’s not earth nor it’s rare, as they say
It lies under our feet, sparkling the soil we farm
Red, green, yellow, blue, purple, sky of grass
And buffalos, patches of rice, bamboos, sweet yams
The Struggle Against Free Trade Continues
On October 15th, La Mesa Nacional Frente a La Minería Metálica en El Salvador, also known as El Salvador’s National Roundtable on Mining, won the Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award awarded by the Institute for Policy Studies for their fight against mining in El Salvador.
El Salvador’s Gold Fight
As El Salvador transitions from decades of conservative rule to the administration of leftist President Mauricio Funes, the country faces an international showdown triggered by a restrictive free-trade agreement between the United States and Central America. Canada’s Pacific Rim Mining Corporation is suing the government for its refusal to allow it to mine gold in El Salvador’s rural north. If Pacific Rim succeeds in securing the $100 million settlement it seeks, that would set a troubling precedent. At stake is a question that affects all nations: Can private interests trump national sovereignty under international law?