Radio Mundo Real

The president of CESTA – Friends of the Earth El Salvador, Ricardo Navarro, said he was “relieved” with the favorable ruling granted to his country by the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID, a World Bank body), in the claim filed by mining transnational corporation Pacific Rim. “I´m relieved because Pacific Rim, now Oceana Gold, wanted to steal 300 million dollars from the Salvadoran State”, said the environmental activist.

Navarro will travel to Geneva, Switzerland in the next few days, to join Friends of the Earth International´s delegation that will exert pressure during the second session of the Intergovernmental Working Group of the UN Human Rights Council that is negotiating a binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights violations. “We urgently need an international legislation to control the corporate power that violates human rights”, said Navarro and he mentioned as an example the effects of the application of agrotoxics by big companies on the health of the population. He especially made reference to the cases of kidney failure.

The president of CESTA also made reference to the mobilization that took place on Friday in San Salvador, capital of the country, where the Movement of Victims and People Affected by Climate Change and Corporations (MOVIAC) demanded the National parliament to ban 53 agrotoxic products. Navarro also announced that other mobilizations will follow.