Joomla! site syndication http://cispes.org Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:16:20 +0100 FeedCreator 1.7.2 http://cispes.org/images/M_images/joomla_rss.png http://cispes.org Joomla! site syndication index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=737&Itemid=98 (story and pictures from Vancouver Media Co-op (http://vancouver.mediacoop.ca/photo/vancouver-mining-company-sues-right-poison-rivers/4516) ) VANCOUVER - Pacific Rim Mining held its annual general meeting in downtown Vancouver today - attended by a few directors and more than a dozen protesters. Most of the demonstrators were from the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) in the US Pacific Northwest. They wore tags describing themselves as shareholders in democracy, human rights, access to clean water and our future. Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining is suing the people of El Salvador after the government refused to allow it to mine using methods that would poison El Salvador's rivers. The suit for millions in lost profits has been filed under the Central American Free Trade Agreement. CISPES is calling on the company's directors to drop the suit. Two CISPES representatives were allowed into the meeting, then ejected after they tried to speak. Current Campaigns - Anti-Mining Sat, 28 Aug 2010 09:11:59 +0100 index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=739&Itemid=35 Fundraising Collective Member - hourly (10 hrs/week) Application Due: September 10th, 2010 Location: Washington, DC Start Date: Immediately 
 Fundraising Collective Members will be part of the national fundraising team. FunK members are responsible for ensuring funds for the national organization as one of our primary grassroots fundraising programs. The main role of this position is to make calls to our grassroots phone list, update supporters on our campaign, and pitch them to increase their financial and political support of CISPES. About CISPES - Jobs & Volunteering Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:34:15 +0100 index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=738&Itemid=30 On August 19th, President Obama appointed Maria del Carmen Aponte to be the new U.S. Ambassador to El Salvador. The President’s appointment during the Senate’s August recess broke a hold on her nomination by a few right-wing Republicans like Jim DeMint (R-SC). Her appointment will last until January 2012, when she would be re-nominated and approved by the Senate. Ms. Aponte is a Puerto Rican lawyer and former director of the Puerto Rican Federal Affairs Administration (2001-2004). She has also served on the boards of the National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and the University of the District of Columbia. Last summer, CISPES issued some criteria for a new Ambassador (index.php?option=com_content task=view id=613 Itemid=32) to El Salvador, in consultation with Salvadoran community organizations in the U.S. We noted that, “Given the vast importance of the Salvadoran immigrant community in the US, the new ambassador should be prepared to work in support of immigrant rights...” It is exciting that the U.S. government has finally named a bilingual woman to be the new Ambassador to El Salvador, especially someone like Ms. Aponte who, through her work with the NCLR and other organizations, has advocated for rights of Latinas/os. Current Campaigns - Fair Elections and Democracy Wed, 01 Sep 2010 12:54:35 +0100 index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=735&Itemid=27 Let’s send a clear message: Withdraw your shameful lawsuit against El Salvador! Today, the shareholders and Board of Directors of Pacific Rim Mining will meet for their Annual General Meeting in Vancouver, B.C. When the government and people of El Salvador stopped Pacific Rim’s gold mines from opening, this Canadian corporation opened a storefront in Nevada, and is now using the US-Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) to sue the Salvadoran government for hundreds of millions of dollars in ‘lost profits’. The company has been telling their shareholders that they are still hopeful for a “resolution” with the Salvadoran government. However, after the 2009 elections, El Salvador finally has a democratic government that is responding to the people’s demands. On Saturday, the President of El Salvador, Mauricio Funes reiterated his public commitment: “I will not authorize any mining exploration or exploitation project” and he welcomed the process underway in the Legislative Assembly to pass a national ban on metallic mining. Action Alerts - Action Alerts Wed, 25 Aug 2010 07:41:58 +0100 index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=734&Itemid=28 Also included in this update: * FMLN and Ministry of Health Push for Affordable Medicines * El Salvador and Cuba Increase Cooperation On Friday, July 30, hundreds students from the University of El Salvador took to the streets, accompanied by professors, staff and other sectors of the social movement. The march, filled with street theater, papier-mâché tanks and a 9-foot gorilla, was a commemoration of the university student massacre that occurred on July 30, 1975. Thirty-five years ago, university students took to the streets to protest military incursions on the Santa Ana campus and the repressive policies of the military dictatorship in power at the time. The peaceful march was attacked by Salvadoran army soldiers with gunfire and tanks, perpetrating the attack with other repressive State security forces. While there are no official numbers of how many students were killed and wounded in the massacre, it is estimated at least 30 students died and over a hundred more were wounded. This year, student organizations including the Roque Dalton University Front (FURD), the Revolutionary Student Brigades (BRES) and a number of other groups organized the march and all-night vigil that followed. This year, marchers and organizers demanded trials to bring justice to the victims of the 1975 massacre and a repeal of the country's Amnesty Law (http://org2.democracyinaction.org/dia/track.jsp?v=2 c=tPNKJpOHG00T928zUS4%2BEqJeNOsFTsaF) - passed just after the end of El Salvador's Civil War in 1993 and considered by many Salvadorans to be the biggest obstacle to respect for human rights in the country. News - El Salvador Updates Mon, 09 Aug 2010 16:22:42 +0100