This morning Leah and I went to the Canadian embassy with a group of peaceful protesters from communities affected by mining exploration to protest the actions of Pacific Rim, a Canadian mining company that gravitated to El Salvador in 2002 for its gold and silver deposits and lax environmental laws. The community members and NGOs have been trying for weeks drop off a letter asking the embassy to stop publicly supporting Pacific Rim's lawsuit against the government of El Salvador, but the embassy has been refusing to let them enter on the grounds that they are not Canadian citizens. This morning Leah and I went with them. We just wanted to enter the embassy, as is our right, and drop off the letter. They locked us out. When we asked for reasons, they refused to give us any.
This is outrageous treatment. Any citizen of any country is allowed to enter their embassy while traveling abroad - that's what embassies are for. Your political affiliations don't affect this basic right, nor do your stances on controversial issues. The embassy is Canadian territory. As citizens, we have the right to enter our territory. They do not have the right to refuse entry to law-abiding Canadians.
We pointed this out to the security guard, who conferred with her higher ups. She told us that one of us could enter if it was regarding a document problem, otherwise we had to stay outside. There is no justification for allowing one Canadian to enter the embassy and not another. More importantly, the embassy is not allowed to dictate the reasons for which Canadians can enter its premises. We have the right to enter the embassy for peaceful purposes, even if the government of the day disagrees with our opinions and doesn't feel like receiving mail. Their arbitrary refusal to let us enter made the embassy look churlish and fearful. We were two girls with a letter; the most frightening thing we could have done is leave long blonde hairs on their carpets.
A little background...
Pacific Rim Mining Corp. is headquartered in Vancouver, Canada. It began exploring El Salvador's highlands in 2002 through its subsidiary incorporated in the Cayman Islands. Pacific Rim's exploratory actions began to contaminate drinking water, and nearby communities began to protest. Any mine uses vast quantities of water for all parts of its operation. By the end, the highly toxic water is stored in tailings ponds that may not be leak-proof. Just ask the people living downriver from the tar sands how well those tailings ponds do their job in a geologically stable zone. It's worth pointing out that El Salvador is in a seismic zone and has a number of active volcanoes.
When the original protesters learned that there was not one, but twelve possible mining projects slated for the Salvadoran highlands, which is where the country's drinking water comes from, the protest went national. This tiny, densely populated country depends on a single watershed, so any mining activity affects everyone's water supply. The protests slowed Pacific Rim's application for mining permits, and in 2008 the Salvadoran president decreed that no mining activity would take place in the country. His successor after the 2009 election upheld that promise. Pacific Rim has never had a permit to mine in El Salvador.
In answer, Pacific Rim sued the Salvadoran government for 77 million dollars of 'lost profits.' (Question: if Pacific Rim never had permission to mine, how can the profits be considered lost? Indeed, did they ever even have profits?) Pacific Rim launched two law suits against the government of El Salvador, one under the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) and one under Salvadoran investment law. Canada isn't a party to CAFTA but the US is, so Pacific Rim reincorporated its Cayman Island subsidiary in Nevada so that it could challenge the Salvadoran government under the CAFTA agreement. Both suits were to be heard by the same tribunal - the World Bank's International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). About two weeks ago, ICSID ruled that it would not hear Pacific Rim's case under CAFTA because Pacific Rim hadn't been incorporated in the US at the relevant time. However, ICSID did rule that it would hear Pacific Rim's suit under Salvadoran law. Without knowing more about CAFTA and Salvadoran law, I have no idea what Pacific Rim's chances of success are and whether they would have been better or worse under CAFTA. What I do know is that this is costing the country millions in legal fees - about $5 million at last count. The people who I was with today want Pacific Rim to drop the law suit and go home so that the government can spend that money on much needed development. Can you blame them?
*I got all my numbers from http://www.miningwatch.ca/blog/pacific-rim-mining-lawsuit-saga-prolonged-costs-mount-company-and-people-el-salvador
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