This event is being hosted as a part of an international speaking tour to highlight the dangers transnational mining companies pose to people, waters, and the environment – read more here.

Presenting:

Vidalina Morales de Games is a member of The National Roundtable against Metallic Mining in El Salvador (the Mesa).  Vidalina Morales is a mother of five children and has worked with ADES – Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta for over 10 years.

She has worked directly on mining issues as an organizer in Cabañas communities since 2006. She has been invited to speak internationally about El Salvador’s fights against mining a number of times over the years and in 2009 gave the acceptance speech for the Mesa’s Letelier-Moffitt Human Rights Award.

“Instead of a law allowing Pacific Rim to sue our government, they should be sued,” she says. “The company should be made to pay for all the damage they’ve caused to our environment and our community.” -2010 Interview

Lolilta Chavez is a Maya-K’iche woman from the north-western highlands of Guatemala. She is a director of the K’iche Peoples Council and the Indigenous Women’s Network and works on issues related to indigenous rights, industrial development – including mining, forestry and hydro projects – and corruption. Lolita has received threats for speaking out in defence of the rights of Indigenous peoples in Guatemala. She is touring Canada and the US to expose the practice of criminalising dissent in Guatemala and will meet with NGOs, investors, unions and ordinary Canadians to share her story and stories of Indigenous peoples’ struggles to protect their rights and territories in Guatemala.

(additional presenters to be confirmed)