Pacific Rim/OceanaGold

Pacific Rim/Oceana Gold taken to trial in Geneva for violations of human rights in El Salvador

Details: Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold; Published: Wednesday, 25 June 2014 18:53

by P. Cabezas

Members of the National Roundtable against Mining in El Salvador, La Mesa, announced the presentation of the Pacific Rim-OceanaGold case in this week’s Permanent Peoples' Tribunal held in Geneva, Switzerland.

The tribunal, organized as part of the International Week of Actions to Stop Corporate Impunity, “provides an opportunity to the victims of corporate violations to publicly present their struggle and to demand the justice that they have never achieved. More generally, it aims to provide a truthful and authoritative account of the operations of TNCs and their repercussions on human rights.”

New Study Shows Dangers of Trade Agreements that Help Corporations Sue Govenments

Details: Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold; Published: Tuesday, 25 March 2014 17:56

By Robin Broad and John Cavanagh

First published in http://tinyurl.com/lntc9dh

As the Obama administration negotiates new trade agreements with European and Pacific nations, a battle has emerged over the agreements’ egregious rules that grant giant corporations unreasonable powers to subvert democracy. These rules, dubbed “investor rights” by the corporations, allow firms to sue governments over actions—including public interest regulations—that reduce the value of their investments.

Oxfam, the Institute for Policy Studies, and four other non-profits are releasing a new study that explains why these rules are so dangerous to democracy and the environment. We are among the co-authors of this study, titled “Debunking Eight Falsehoods by Pacific Rim Mining/OceanaGold in El Salvador.” The report offers a powerful case study of everything that is wrong with this corporate assault on democracy.

Debunking Eigth Falsehoods by Pacific Rim/OceanaGold in El Salvador

Details: Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold; Published: Tuesday, 18 March 2014 06:23

8Fbanner25662a5ff78be (Ottawa/Washington/Sydney) The President-elect of El Salvador has publicly committed to prohibit new mining during his administration, just as his predecessors have done since 2008. OceanaGold should respect the democratic process in El Salvador, abandon its acquisition of Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining, and drop its lawsuit against the government of El Salvador for not having permitted a mine, according to international civil society organizations. A new study debunks eight falsehoods the company has used to try to justify mining in El Salvador and undermine public debate and policymaking.

Canadian-Australian firm OceanaGold acquired Pacific Rim Mining in November 2013. Up against stiff local and national opposition in El Salvador, Pacific Rim has been trying to get at gold deposits in northern El Salvador for about a decade.

The Global Fight Against Corporate Rule

Details: Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold; Published: Thursday, 13 February 2014 13:29

Activists are challenging rules that grant corporations the right to sue governments.

By Robin Broad and John Cavanah

Published in http://www.thenation.com/article/177930/global-fight-against-corporate-rule?page=full#

Over the past several decades, multinational corporate Goliaths have helped to write and rewrite hundreds of rules skewing tax, trade, investment and other policies in their favor. The extraordinary damage these policies have caused has become increasingly apparent to the communities and governments most directly affected by them. This, in turn, has strengthened the potential of a movement that’s emerging to try to reverse the momentum. But just like David with his slingshot, the local, environmental and government leaders seeking to revise rules to favor communities and the planet must pick their battles carefully.

One of the most promising of these battles takes aim at an egregious set of agreements that allow corporations to sue national governments. Until three decades ago, governments could pass laws to protect consumers, workers, health, the environment and domestic firms with little threat of outside legal challenge from corporations. All that changed when corporations started acquiring the “right” to sue governments over actions—including public interest regulations—that reduce the value of their investments. These rights first appeared in little-known bilateral investment treaties. Twenty years ago, corporate lawyers embedded them in the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). Today, more than 3,000 trade and investment agreements and even some national investment laws grant foreign investors these powers.

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Pacific Rim/OceanaGold