“Pacific Rim is using ICSID to subvert a democratic nationwide debate over mining and environmental health in El Salvador,” the letter said. “When it comes to such issues, local democratic institutions should prevail, not foreign corporations seeking to exploit natural resources.”

Polling data shows that a majority of Salvadorans (62 percent) support a permanent ban on metal mining.

“The case against El Salvador is one of many cases that demonstrate the extent to which investor state arbitration broadly found in investment agreements undermine local democracy,” said Pedro Cabezas coordinator of the International Allies against Metal Mining – the coalition of NGOs that is spearheading the letter campaign. “It’s time for the World Bank to cut its ties to ICSID and stop promoting this investment model.”

The World Bank is hosting its biannual meeting in Washington, D.C. this week. Pacific Rim is scheduled to submit its arguments to the ICSID tribunal on April 11, 2014. 

The letter will be delivered through actions taking place simultaneously in Washington DC, San Salvador, Vancouver and Toronto. To read the letter, please visit http://www.stopesmining.org/j25/index.php/campaigns/letter-to-the-world-bank

/ENDS

For more information, please contact:

• Manuel Perez Rocha, Institute for Policy Studies (U.S.):  240-838-6623, manuel@ipsdc.org
• Dylan Penner, Council of Canadians (Canada): 613-795-8685, dpenner@canadians.org.
• Pedro Cabezas, International Allies against Mining in El Salvador (El Salvador): 011-503-7755-1523, stopesmining@gmail.com