Overview

In a time when countless communities are resisting powerful corporations--from Flint, Michigan, to the Standing Rock Reservation, to Didipio, Philippines, to the Gualcarque River in Honduras--The Water Defenders presents the inspirational story of a community that took on Big Gold at seemingly insurmountable odds and won two historic victories.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 and brothers Marcelo and Miguel Rivera soon discovered that the river system that supplies water to the majority of Salvadorans was in danger of catastrophic contamination. With a group of unlikely allies, both 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, replete with corporate greed, a transnational lawsuit at a secretive World Bank tribunal in Washington, DC, violent threats, murders, and, surprisingly, victory. The husband-and-wife duo immerse listeners in 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. The Water Defenders demands that we examine our assumptions about progress and prosperity, while providing valuable lessons for other communities and allies fighting against destructive corporations in the United States and across the world.

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9781662080456

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Robin Broad is an expert in international development and won a prestigious Guggenheim fellowship for her work on this project, as well as two previous MacArthur fellowships. A professor at American University, she has served as an international economist in the US Treasury Department, in the US Congress, and at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. With her husband, John Cavanagh, she helped build the network of international allies that spearheaded the global fight against mining in El Salvador. They have coauthored several books together. John Cavanagh is the director of the Washington, DC-based Institute for Policy Studies, an organization that collaborates with the Poor People's Campaign and other dynamic social movements to turn ideas into action for peace, justice, and the environment. With his wife, Robin Broad, he helped build the network of international allies that spearheaded the global fight against mining in El Salvador. They have coauthored several books together. Ximena Morris is a talented voiceover artist who is fluent in English, Spanish, and French. She was the Live Spanish MC for the 2015 Pan American Games.

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