Webinar: Mining Injustice through International Arbitration

Start: Thursday, October 01, 2020 7:00 PM

End: Thursday, October 01, 2020 8:00 PM

Mining Injustice through International Arbitration

Across the Global South transnational mining companies use a combination of tactics in order to operate in places where communities don’t want them.

First, they use deception and repression. If that fails, they sue governments in supranational tribunals set up to pressure or punish governments that fail to meet corporate demands. Suits like this are made possible by international investment agreements, like the Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

In Guatemala, the U.S. mining firm Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) relied on state security forces to undermine the Peaceful Resistance La Puya in order to briefly operate the El Tambor gold mine. When unwavering community resistance and legal action halted operations again, KCA turned to international arbitration to strong-arm the Guatemalan government into green-lighting the mine — or compensating KCA for hundreds of millions of dollars in unearned profits.

Join this webinar to learn about this $400 million claim, which is currently proceeding at a World Bank Group tribunal, as well as the ongoing resistance at La Puya, lessons from El Salvador, and the inherent injustice in the supranational Investor State Dispute Settlement System (ISDS).
Speakers:
* Álvaro Sandoval, Peaceful Resistance La Puya
* Edgar Pérez, Lawyer and Founder, Guatemalan Human Rights Lawfirm
* Jen Moore & Ellen Moore, report co-authors with Luis Solano, Institute for Policy Studies & Earthworks
* Yanira Cortez Estévez, Salvadoran lawyer and former adjunct ombudsperson for environmental rights, Human Rights Ombudsperson’s office, El Salvador
* Manuel Pérez Rocha, Institute for Policy Studies

Moderator:
Laura Carlsen, Journalist, Director of the Americas Program and Host of Hecho en América, Rompeviento TV

Oct 1, 2020 07:00 PM in Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Sponsored by