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Ceremony ends badly for mining company executives who toast Congressman with cyanide-tainted water sourced from Salvadoran gold mine

Pacific Rim Mining executives Barbara Poisonwell and Thomas Snake are joined by shareholders for a toast to U.S. Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) as protesters look on

SEATTLE – Dozens of demonstrators marched from Westlake Plaza to the office of Rep. Jim McDermott (D-WA) on Thursday afternoon to protest the Congressman’s ongoing refusal to endorse a trade policy reform bill currently before the Congress, and to disrupt a press conference held by Pacific Rim Mining Corporation honoring McDermott for his support of free trade.

Representatives of several Seattle-area unions, environmental groups, churches and other community organizations lined sidewalks on both sides of 7th avenue between Olive and Stewart Streets in front of McDermott’s downtown Seattle office, chanting and holding signs in support of the “TRADE Act,” a bill that would overhaul existing free trade agreements and set standards for future pacts.

Meanwhile, before a backdrop of golden balloons, a dozen executives and shareholders of Pacific Rim, a Vancouver, B.C., gold mining company, held a press conference thanking McDermott for his refusal to support trade policy reform. Pacific Rim is currently suing the government of El Salvador for hundreds of millions of dollars under the provisions of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) after that country nixed a proposed gold mine on environmental and public health grounds. If it were to become law, the TRADE Act would eliminate provisions in U.S. trade agreements allowing corporations to challenge environmental protections with lawsuits.

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A third anti-mining activist, Dora “Alicia” Recinos Sorto, was killed in El Salvador on December 26th. CISPES Executive Director Alexis Stoumbelis was interviewed on Democracy Now! this morning about the situation:

Video produced by UNES – Unidad Ecológica Salvadoreña