Yesterday – Saturday December 26,2009, assassins killed Dora Santos Sorto Rodríguez, also known as Alicia, in Canton Trinidad in Sensuntepeque, the same community where Ramiro Rivera was killed just one week ago. When she was attacked, Alicia was eight months pregnant and carrying her two-year-old child back from a river where she had been washing clothes. Dora and her husband José Santos Rodríguez were members of the Environmental Committee of Cabañas, a local organization that has opposed Pacific Rim’s efforts to mine gold in the region. Santos Rodríguez was attacked in May 2008 by Oscar Menjivar, who is now in jail for shooting Ramiro Rivera 8 times in August 2009.
This is the latest in a series of violence and threats in Cabañas. Assassins have also claimed the lives of Ramiro Rivera and Marcelo Rivera, and attacked and threatened numerous others.
The international community must stand strong with our friends in Cabañas, and demand that the government respond with a thorough investigation and bring all of those responsible to justice. Again, we ask that you to please take a moment to email the Salvadoran Attorney General and Ombudsman for Human Rights and demand that they do their jobs. Click here for instructions.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Marcelo, Ramiro, and Alicia – and all those who are standing up against injustice.
Voices on the Border 