El Salvador Study Abroad 2010: CESTA and Sister Cities

Lindsey, Julie and I at CESTA

CESTA Amigos de la Tierra (Friends of the Earth) is a professional association that promotes technology appropriate for the ecological and social conditions of El Salvador. CESTA was the first ecological organization funded in the country. Their vision is to have a country and consequently a world where various societies have a fundamental duty: to live in harmony within yourselves and with your environment. Their mission is to contribute to the sustainability of El Salvador through the promotion, impulsion, development and implementation of movements, plans, programs, projects, and environmental actions that also contribute to the creation of a sustainable world. While there, we had the opportunity to take a hike through the forrest. It was absolutely beautiful to be surrounded by nature. During our discussion, mining, specifically minerals, in El Salvador came up. CESTA among other organizations such as Sister Cities as well as many of the people of El Salvador, are against mining in El Salvador for several reasons.

Sister Cities, is a grassroots organization of people in the United States who have ongoing partnerships with small rural communities in El Salvador is also against mining in El Salvador. Their vision is of "strong relationships that protect human rights, build solidarity and support sustainable communities in both the U.S. and El Salvador. The reasons why so many are against mineral mining in El Salvador includes the detrimental effects of mining that threaten to increase the present fragile social and ecologic balance in El Salvador. Mining will decrease the scare water resources as well as pollute the network of rivers that are distributed through the country. The chemicals used for mining are extremely harmful to humans, yet certain organizations such as Pacific Rim, Commerce Group and San Sebastian Gold Mines insist on mining, but the Salvadoran government has denied mineral exploitation permits of mining companies and now all 3 companies are suing the government for over $200 million for refusal to grant the permits.

Other reasons, include poor economic benefits for the people of El Salvador. These companies would utilize 90,000 liters of water a day, so to put it into perspective, in 1 hour, the company would use the amount of water that 5 families in the area would use in the period of 20 years! Good quality, potable water is becoming scarcer throughout the country. In the proposed 10 years of this project, these companies would use 7,300 tons of cyanide which would poison the rivers, underground water reserves, soil and the air. If there is prolonged human exposure to the chemicals that will be used such as cyanide, mercury, and other heavy metals may cause deadly diseases such as skin, gastric, and lung cancer, damage to the central nervous system, it could produce blindness and congenital diseases, among other serious health conditions. Mining would also negatively affect the economic sectors such as fishing, livestock ranching, agriculture, and tourism. Social conflict has also risen due to the mining companies using a strategy of divide and conquer which has give way to violence withing community members and leaders. For more information on this topic. please visit: The National Rountable Against Mineral Mining in El Salvador-www.esnomineria.blogspot.com and El Salvador Sister Cities-www.elsalvadorsolidarity.org

Some Pics taken during our visit to CESTA