IPS
Events
The Water Defenders: A SIS-OR Book Event
March 23 @ 7:00 pm - 8:30 pm
Online
(Eastern time)
In the early 2000s, many people
in El Salvador were at first excited by the prospect of jobs, progress, and
prosperity that the Pacific Rim mining company promised. However, farmer
Vidalina Morales, brothers Marcelo and Miguel Rivera, and others soon
discovered that the river system supplying water to the majority of Salvadorans
was in danger of catastrophic contamination. With a group of unlikely allies,
local and global, they committed to stop the corporation and the destruction of
their home.
Based on over a decade of
research and their own role as international allies of the community groups in
El Salvador, Robin Broad
and John Cavanagh
unspool this untold story—a tale replete with corporate greed, a transnational
lawsuit at a secretive World Bank tribunal in Washington, violent threats,
murders, and—surprisingly—victory. American University’s Office of
Research, School of International Service will host, for a book talk, this
husband-and-wife duo who immerse readers into the lives of the Salvadoran
villagers, the journeys of the local activists who sought the truth about the
effects of gold mining on the environment, and the behind-the-scenes
maneuverings of the corporate mining executives and their lawyers. The Water Defenders
demands that we examine our assumptions about progress and prosperity, while
providing valuable lessons for those fighting against destructive corporations
in the United States and across the world. RSVP
Moderated by
Joe Eldridge,
Senior Fellow, Washington Office on Latino Affairs, Former AU Chaplain
With:
- Luis Parada,
El Salvador’s lead lawyer vs. the mining companies
- Manuela Picq,
Karl Loewenstein Fellow and Visiting Associate Professor of Political
Science, Amherst College; professor of International Relations at
Universidad San Francisco de Quito (USFQ), Ecuador; joining from Quito,
Ecuador.
