Pacific Rim v. El Salvador and the Perils of Free Trade in the Americas

1. Barack Obama, “Why I oppose CAFTA”, Chicago Tribune, June 30, 2005, Commentary section.

2. Alexis Stoumbelis, “Landmark hearing begins at World Bank arbitration center,” CISPES, http://www.cispes.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=715.

3. Robert E. Moran, “Technical Review of the El Dorado Mine Project Environmental Assessment (EIA), El Salvador,” October 2005, http://www.miningwatch.ca/en/technical-review-el-dorado-mine-project-environmental-impact-assessment-eia-el-salvador.

4. Ibid.

5. “El Dorado, El Salvador,” Pacific Rim Mining Corp, http://www.pacrim-mining.com/s/ES_Eldorado.asp.

6. Cameron Herrington, interview by author, June 28, 2010.

7. Moran

8. Raúl Gutiérrez, “Gold Mining ‘Is a Huge Rip-Off’ - Environmentalists,” Inter-Press Service, December 8, 2008, http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=45035.

9. Cited in Moran

10. Keith Slack, interview by author, July 13, 2010.

11. “Metals, Mining, and Sustainable Development in Central America,” OxFam America, February 17, 2009, http://www.oxfamamerica.org/publications/metals-mining-and-sustainable-development-in-central-america.

12. “El Dorado, El Salvador”

13. Zach Dyer, “El Salvador Faces CAFTA Suit Over Mine Project,” NACLA, February 6, 2009, http://nacla.org/node/5499.

14. Travis McArthur, “CAFTA Case Challenges Mining Laws,” Public Citizen, June 4, 2010, http://citizen.typepad.com/eyesontrade/2010/06/cafta-case-challenges-mining-laws.html.

15. Mary O’Grady, “Will El Salvador Veer Left?,” The Wall Street Journal, December 22, 2008, Americas section, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122990333544725099.html?mod=googlenews_wsj.

16. O’Grady

17. McArthur

18. “El Dorado, El Salvador”

19. Lee Hudson Teslkik, “Fast-Track Trade Promotion Authority and Its Impact on U.S. Trade Policy,” Council on Foreign Relations, June 25, 2007, http://www.cfr.org/publication/13663/fasttrack_trade_promotion_authority_and_its_impact_on_us_trade_policy.html.

20. David Ratner and Robert E. Scott, “NAFTA’s cautionary tale: Recent history suggests CAFTA could lead to further U.S. job displacement,” Economic Policy Institute, July 20, 2005, http://www.epi.org/publications/entry/ib214/.

21. “Overview,” Pacific Rim Mining Corp, http://www.pacrim-mining.com/s/AboutUs_Overview.asp.

22. Sarah Anderson, Manuel Perez-Rocha, and Rebecca Dreyfus, “Mining for Profits in International Tribunals,” Institute for Policy Studies, April 29, 2010, http://www.ips-dc.org/reports/mining_for_profits_in_international_tribunals.

23. Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement, August 2, 2005, ch. 10, http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-trade-agreements/cafta-dr-dominican-republic-central-america-fta/final-text.

24. Karyn Keenan, “Canadian Mining: Still Unaccountable,” NACLA, May/June 2010, http://nacla.org/node/6555.

25. Ibid.

Peeling Back the Truth on Guatemalan Bananas

1. Dan Koeppel, Banana-the Fate of the Fruit that Changed the World (New York, NY: Penguin Group, 2008). [Hereafter: (Koeppel, 2008).]

2. Banana Republic was first used by O. Henry, Cabbages and Kings

3. (Koeppel, 2008).

4. P. Landmeier, Banana Republic: The United Fruit Company, April 22, 2010, http://www.mayaparadise.com/united_fruit_company.htm (accessed June 15, 2010).

5. T. Barry, Roots of Rebellion (Boston, MA: South End Press, 1987).

6. Commonly known as the Truth Commission.

7. Guatemala Human Rights Commission / USA, Labor Rights in Guatemala, October 25, 2009, http://www.ghrc-usa.org/Publications/factsheet_LaborRights.pdf (accessed May 21, 2010). [Hereafter: (GHRC 2009).]

8. Information found from personal exploration of grocery stores around the U.S. Maybe state this in a more informal way in the sentence, perhaps… “those who frequent grocery stores may notice that prices do not vary much…”

9. Mongabay.com, Banana US Price Chart, June 10, 2010, http://www.mongabay.com/images/commodities/charts/chart-bananas_us.html (accessed June 16, 2010). No guarantee as to the accuracy of this statistic.

10. www.fairtrade.org.uk

11. A German company that at the time was owned by Dole.

12. http://www.europeanvoice.com/article/2008/10/commission-fines-banana-cartel/62671.aspx

13. Not including the companies’ extra profits.

14. Office of the United States Trade Representative, Guatemala, July 23, 2009, http://www.ustr.gov/countries-regions/americas/guatemala (accessed May 21, 2010).

15. This information is from an interview with Manuela Chavéz and the documentation she provided.

16. (GHRC 2009).

17. 40% of the population does not even receive minimum wage. UNDP, Human Development Report, 2005

18. (GHRC 2009).

19. (US Bureau of Labor Statistics 2008)

20. (GHRC 2009).

21. (GHRC 2009).

22. Reports differ depending on the newspaper and article.

23. Freedom of Association and collective violation (ILO)

24. At minimum, kindergarten.

25. From an interview with Manuela Chavéz on June 10, 2010