Mining activists seek support in the US

The Salvadoran anti-mining movement made a stop in my home town of Milwaukee recently to seek support for its efforts to continue the de facto prohibition on metallic mining in El Salvador.   Milwaukee is also the home of the Commerce Group, a gold mining company which so far has been unsuccessful in its attempts to sue the government of El Salvador under DR-CAFTA.

The visitor to Milwaukee was Franciscan brother Domingo Solis.   An article in the Catholic Herald describes his message to people in the US:

Br. Domingo has been fighting the mining companies for 20 years, mostly as a “rank-and-file activist,” but now he’s the head of the office of Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation for the Franciscans in El Salvador.

“(We) work in support of justice and, where there’s not a movement, to promote the creation of the movement,” Br. Domingo said. “Where there’s not justice, to seek justice and open opportunities for dialogue and reconciliation.”

Br. Domingo said he’s generated a lot of interest in the issue.

“It’s a very opportune moment because of people’s concerns for the environment, for life, to show young people not everyone favors the destruction of the earth,” Br. Domingo said.