00:00:30.363 --> 00:00:31.531
Comrades run!

00:00:38.413 --> 00:00:40.957
This is where we farm!

00:00:45.211 --> 00:00:50.216
It’s not a crime to defend
our rights as Indigenous people.

00:00:51.468 --> 00:00:56.431
It is a crime to attack a river that
carries life, that has spirits,

00:00:57.682 --> 00:01:02.937
that for the Lenca people
means the balance of the universe. ​

00:01:13.073 --> 00:01:18.828
Water is the essential element
for all living beings.

00:01:19.913 --> 00:01:23.458
It is not only for me as a Mapuche,
it is for all Chilean society.

00:01:25.668 --> 00:01:27.462
It is a fight for life

00:01:28.171 --> 00:01:30.799
and for our very existence.

00:01:36.930 --> 00:01:42.060
They know they are going to adversely
affect the lives of the people,

00:01:42.185 --> 00:01:46.606
but they are more concerned
with money than with life itself.

00:01:48.691 --> 00:01:51.653
There is nothing more important
than water for life.

00:01:57.158 --> 00:01:59.452
This is a story about water

00:01:59.911 --> 00:02:03.081
and about three people
who have risked their lives to protect it.

00:02:03.790 --> 00:02:06.000
They come from three different countries,

00:02:06.292 --> 00:02:08.294
leading three separate movements

00:02:08.670 --> 00:02:10.505
but their struggle is the same.

00:02:36.823 --> 00:02:40.243
Curamil is my Kupan (family name).

00:02:41.327 --> 00:02:46.291
My ancestors were chiefs,
and I maintain their strength

00:02:46.416 --> 00:02:49.002
and wisdom here today.

00:02:56.843 --> 00:02:58.511
My great grandfather

00:02:58.595 --> 00:03:03.141
fought to keep the white man from
crossing the Malleco River.

00:03:06.853 --> 00:03:10.356
First our territory was
invaded by the Spanish,

00:03:10.732 --> 00:03:12.609
then by the Chilean state.

00:03:14.986 --> 00:03:21.242
The Chilean Army came,
killing and stealing from our ancestors.

00:03:22.994 --> 00:03:25.747
Now it’s the corporations.

00:03:26.664 --> 00:03:28.249
First they came to steal our territory,

00:03:28.291 --> 00:03:31.377
now they come for something more specific,

00:03:31.836 --> 00:03:33.129
our water.

00:03:39.385 --> 00:03:43.514
The Cautin is the largest river we have.

00:03:43.765 --> 00:03:46.434
It’s the main artery,
the lifeblood of our territory.

00:03:48.311 --> 00:03:52.523
It contains a spiritual force,

00:03:53.483 --> 00:03:55.818
a spiritual being.

00:04:01.574 --> 00:04:05.787
Our people have been here
for thousands of years,

00:04:05.870 --> 00:04:08.248
living and working off the land.

00:04:13.419 --> 00:04:15.296
There’s a lot of life here.

00:04:16.130 --> 00:04:19.467
And now they want to destroy everything.

00:04:23.179 --> 00:04:26.266
In 2010, the Chilean government
embarked on a plan

00:04:26.349 --> 00:04:30.186
to build dozens of hydroelectric projects
on the region's rivers,

00:04:30.687 --> 00:04:32.647
including two on the Cautin,

00:04:32.981 --> 00:04:36.609
which runs through the heart
of the Mapuche ancestral lands.

00:04:39.487 --> 00:04:42.824
In the Araucania region
there is a lot of water.

00:04:44.993 --> 00:04:48.329
So, it was our belief that
there was an opportunity

00:04:48.454 --> 00:04:52.959
to develop new, renewable sources,

00:04:53.251 --> 00:04:57.213
based on a resource
that is quite abundant,

00:04:58.047 --> 00:04:59.757
which is water.

00:05:04.220 --> 00:05:09.434
When I first recognized the threat
from the hydroelectric projects,

00:05:10.143 --> 00:05:13.771
I felt helpless, worried, and I wondered

00:05:13.938 --> 00:05:16.983
if we could ever stop it.

00:05:31.039 --> 00:05:34.208
There are several
hydroelectric projects

00:05:34.250 --> 00:05:37.962
that were approved
without any consideration

00:05:38.046 --> 00:05:40.965
of them being in
Indigenous territory.

00:05:45.470 --> 00:05:49.432
Chile’s constitution does not recognize

00:05:49.515 --> 00:05:53.102
the existence of the Indigenous people.

00:05:54.062 --> 00:05:57.398
There is no appreciation of their culture, worldview,

00:05:57.482 --> 00:05:59.776
or Indigenous life within our country.

00:06:02.945 --> 00:06:05.323
(United Nations / ILO) Convention 169 states:

00:06:05.406 --> 00:06:09.202
Before any intervention can begin

00:06:09.285 --> 00:06:12.997
that would affect Indigenous territory,

00:06:13.748 --> 00:06:19.420
in this case the Mapuche,
the people must be consulted.

00:06:28.429 --> 00:06:30.556
There was no consultation,

00:06:30.640 --> 00:06:33.643
in a government report, they said

00:06:33.684 --> 00:06:36.729
there were no Indigenous
people in this area.

00:06:39.857 --> 00:06:45.488
(United Nations / ILO) Convention 169 is applied
in a very ineffective manner,

00:06:45.488 --> 00:06:48.991
because consultations
require field work,

00:06:49.033 --> 00:06:52.203
involving a lot of people,

00:06:52.286 --> 00:06:56.290
which takes time and money,

00:06:56.374 --> 00:07:00.711
and this hinders extractive production.

00:07:11.764 --> 00:07:15.476
In 1973, General Augusto Pinochet

00:07:15.726 --> 00:07:18.980
seized power in a U.S.
supported military coup,

00:07:19.981 --> 00:07:21.774
ousting Salvador Allende,

00:07:22.316 --> 00:07:24.861
the democratically elected president.

00:07:27.280 --> 00:07:29.699
housands were tortured
and disappeared

00:07:29.782 --> 00:07:32.785
during Pinochet’s 17-year dictatorship.

00:07:40.835 --> 00:07:45.131
My father died when I was a baby.

00:07:46.591 --> 00:07:50.887
He was also a freedom fighter
and defender of our territory.

00:07:52.805 --> 00:07:55.183
He died from a heart attack

00:07:55.183 --> 00:07:58.895
after being electrocuted during a torture session.

00:08:01.063 --> 00:08:03.774
The whole country suffered under Pinochet,

00:08:03.858 --> 00:08:07.153
but the coup was especially
devastating for the Mapuche.

00:08:08.738 --> 00:08:12.074
The military dictatorship
carved up their territory,

00:08:12.575 --> 00:08:14.869
giving much of it to
timber companies.

00:08:15.286 --> 00:08:18.372
They also privatized the
country’s natural resources.

00:08:21.375 --> 00:08:24.086
Chile is the only
country in the world

00:08:24.170 --> 00:08:27.256
where water rights are
traded on the stock exchange.

00:08:30.551 --> 00:08:34.305
With the country suffering
from years of devastating drought,

00:08:34.639 --> 00:08:37.642
water shortages have
become a major issue.

00:08:42.813 --> 00:08:44.440
If I don’t have water rights,

00:08:44.524 --> 00:08:48.194
I can’t use the water that
passes through my community.

00:08:49.153 --> 00:08:53.491
And if I do, they will take me to court,

00:08:55.117 --> 00:08:59.288
accusing me of stealing this resource.

00:09:03.376 --> 00:09:07.004
Water is something
crucial, strategic,

00:09:07.964 --> 00:09:10.758
fundamental for our lives.

00:09:10.800 --> 00:09:15.137
But it is also very important for agriculture,
it is very important for industry.

00:09:17.348 --> 00:09:23.771
So, there is a lot of tension in how
you use the water, who can use the water.

00:09:25.815 --> 00:09:27.400
Hydro-electric power

00:09:27.441 --> 00:09:30.486
is widely promoted as a
sustainable energy solution.

00:09:31.320 --> 00:09:34.407
But even small hydro projects
can have a big impact

00:09:34.490 --> 00:09:39.120
by destroying river ecosystems
and displacing people and wildlife.

00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:57.805
In our ceremonies
and in our prayers,

00:09:58.055 --> 00:10:01.934
we invoke the
spirits of the rivers.

00:10:04.895 --> 00:10:07.023
The Cautin River speaks to me.

00:10:08.566 --> 00:10:11.652
It is the language of the earth,
the voice of nature.

00:10:15.156 --> 00:10:17.700
(Mapudungun)
“Spirit of the river,

00:10:18.451 --> 00:10:20.995
I want to lean on you,
to take refuge in you."

00:10:22.663 --> 00:10:24.832
Our elders understood this

00:10:25.124 --> 00:10:28.628
and shared that wisdom with us.

00:10:50.608 --> 00:10:52.777
We had to protect the river,

00:10:53.319 --> 00:10:55.988
and I want the politicians

00:10:56.197 --> 00:11:00.284
who call me an “environmental activist”
to know that I am not an environmental activist.

00:11:00.409 --> 00:11:03.496
I am a Mapuche Chief
who defends his territory

00:11:03.829 --> 00:11:06.123
and everything that exists in it.

00:11:12.755 --> 00:11:16.384
I think it’s important that
we get to know each other,

00:11:16.467 --> 00:11:20.137
so we can collaborate
and plan actions together.

00:11:20.763 --> 00:11:22.348
What Alberto did,

00:11:22.390 --> 00:11:26.018
was to show the Chilean people

00:11:26.686 --> 00:11:30.314
how the Mapuche see water,
see their territory,

00:11:30.564 --> 00:11:32.400
and how they protect it.

00:11:35.194 --> 00:11:38.030
I do not know all the laws.

00:11:39.782 --> 00:11:42.660
But I know we have lawyers

00:11:42.702 --> 00:11:46.580
who can represent the
interests of our community.

00:11:49.041 --> 00:11:51.836
Our strategy was to show

00:11:52.253 --> 00:11:56.841
that the government, the company
and the environmental impact report

00:11:56.924 --> 00:11:58.634
were incorrect

00:11:58.718 --> 00:12:01.512
and were in fact lying when
they said there would be no impact.

00:12:08.477 --> 00:12:10.396
In July 2014, 

00:12:10.438 --> 00:12:15.025
Alberto and his legal team filed
a lawsuit against the Chilean government.

00:12:17.486 --> 00:12:22.074
This map shows the hydro projects
that are being installed in the territory.

00:12:22.241 --> 00:12:24.910
What appears in yellow
are the water rights

00:12:24.994 --> 00:12:28.497
in your ancestral territories.

00:12:29.290 --> 00:12:33.252
It’s troubling because this is a national
issue, not only in our territory.

00:12:33.753 --> 00:12:38.424
We’re seeing the expansion
of forestry and mining companies

00:12:38.507 --> 00:12:42.470
in our territory.
We have to be informed.

00:12:52.980 --> 00:12:55.024
Today brothers,

00:12:55.399 --> 00:12:59.111
we come for the
defense of our lives;

00:12:59.195 --> 00:13:02.239
for the defense of
our rivers that run free.

00:13:02.323 --> 00:13:04.283
NO TO MEGAPROJECTS
IN MAPUCHE TERRITORY

00:13:04.366 --> 00:13:08.704
Alberto's struggle to protect the water
is part of the larger Mapuche effort

00:13:08.788 --> 00:13:11.040
to reclaim their
ancestral territory.

00:13:15.336 --> 00:13:21.926
When we started to organize
and fight to regain territory,

00:13:22.343 --> 00:13:25.846
we became a threat
to the government,

00:13:25.888 --> 00:13:28.432
and particularly to
the business class.

00:13:45.574 --> 00:13:47.785
This territory was recovered

00:13:47.868 --> 00:13:56.502
after the community objected when a private
landowner wanted to grow eucalyptus trees.

00:13:58.379 --> 00:14:00.840
That's why we're here

00:14:01.590 --> 00:14:04.677
reclaiming our ancestral territory.

00:14:04.927 --> 00:14:06.428
Tutto qui.

00:14:20.150 --> 00:14:22.820
In this struggle to recover territory,

00:14:23.028 --> 00:14:25.197
there has been an increase in land
reclamation and in violent actions.

00:14:25.447 --> 00:14:28.367
This began at the end of the 1990’s,

00:14:28.409 --> 00:14:32.079
with the burning of trucks.

00:14:34.456 --> 00:14:39.879
After that, a series of acts of sabotage began,
mainly against forestry companies.

00:14:41.797 --> 00:14:44.842
There are violent [Mapuche]
terrorist groups

00:14:45.009 --> 00:14:47.720
and the violence has been growing exponentially.

00:14:50.890 --> 00:14:53.058
Only a small faction of Mapuche

00:14:53.100 --> 00:14:55.477
have resorted to violent tactics.

00:14:58.355 --> 00:15:00.941
We have seen attacks against farmers.

00:15:02.443 --> 00:15:07.531
These groups seek to displace them,
so they carry out attacks

00:15:07.531 --> 00:15:09.325
with bullets, rocks,

00:15:09.325 --> 00:15:11.243
and by burning people’s homes.

00:15:16.916 --> 00:15:20.878
The far-right group APRA
condemns the violence,

00:15:22.004 --> 00:15:25.090
but they have also incited it
against the Mapuche.

00:15:27.301 --> 00:15:30.930
MAPUCHE TERRITORY

00:15:31.472 --> 00:15:33.432
When you see a sign in a field

00:15:33.432 --> 00:15:37.019
that says "Mapuche Territory,"

00:15:37.686 --> 00:15:39.438
that is violence.

00:15:41.065 --> 00:15:44.693
Is helping our people reclaim
our territory, terrorism?

00:15:44.902 --> 00:15:47.029
It’s our right,

00:15:47.404 --> 00:15:48.906
because this is our ancestral territory,

00:15:49.448 --> 00:15:51.533
and our life is at stake here.

00:15:54.495 --> 00:15:56.580
Alberto Curamil

00:15:56.580 --> 00:16:01.001
tries to appear as if he’s
a very reasonable person.

00:16:01.418 --> 00:16:04.463
But unfortunately we
know that he is behind

00:16:04.797 --> 00:16:08.175
the occupation of land
throughout the area.

00:16:12.930 --> 00:16:18.852
We can talk about rights,
about who arrived first.

00:16:19.144 --> 00:16:22.564
But are they saying,
"We get to stay, you must leave?”

00:16:25.359 --> 00:16:28.070
We are not violent people.

00:16:30.990 --> 00:16:34.535
And it’s terrible to
hear the government

00:16:35.494 --> 00:16:41.166
denigrate the Mapuche who are
simply asking that their rights be respected.

00:16:43.627 --> 00:16:46.547
We will reclaim
our stolen land!

00:16:50.217 --> 00:16:54.221
I participated in a march
with my family

00:16:54.263 --> 00:16:56.557
accompanied by my
two young sons.

00:16:58.142 --> 00:17:02.771
Policemen came right after me
and arrested me…

00:17:03.564 --> 00:17:06.942
Look how the officer is kicking his head!

00:17:07.026 --> 00:17:09.153
He’s not wearing his badge…

00:17:14.992 --> 00:17:18.287
They kicked him in the head while he was on the ground…

00:17:19.038 --> 00:17:21.040
Is he unconscious?

00:17:28.964 --> 00:17:31.383
They’re beating him in there!
He’s screaming!

00:17:43.520 --> 00:17:49.818
It would be easy to say,
"No more, I give up.”

00:17:52.237 --> 00:17:53.989
But in spite of everything,

00:17:53.989 --> 00:17:57.367
Alberto encourages his people,
his community, to carry on.

00:18:00.788 --> 00:18:03.040
We have always said,

00:18:03.123 --> 00:18:07.503
that neither jail or death
can stop this struggle.

00:18:08.587 --> 00:18:10.380
That is our conviction.

00:18:20.307 --> 00:18:25.229
In 2016,
two years after they began pursuing legal options,

00:18:25.562 --> 00:18:28.357
Alberto's lawsuit
reaches the Supreme Court.

00:18:28.816 --> 00:18:30.943
In a verdict that surprises everyone,

00:18:31.193 --> 00:18:33.529
the court rules in
favor of the Mapuche,

00:18:33.612 --> 00:18:36.532
citing the government's
failure to consult them

00:18:36.532 --> 00:18:38.700
or address the
environmental impacts.

00:18:39.201 --> 00:18:42.454
Both hydro-electric projects
on the Cautin river are canceled.

00:18:50.420 --> 00:18:52.131
We didn’t expect it

00:18:52.214 --> 00:18:56.009
because the law doesn’t
usually support the Mapuche.

00:18:59.138 --> 00:19:01.098
Without any money or resources,

00:19:01.140 --> 00:19:06.478
and only pure effort,
love and legal knowledge,

00:19:06.562 --> 00:19:08.856
we finally beat
these large corporations,

00:19:08.897 --> 00:19:12.818
we beat their superior legal team,
and we beat the state.

00:19:14.236 --> 00:19:17.531
When the environmental
court read their ruling,

00:19:17.948 --> 00:19:19.741
I breathed a sigh of relief.

00:19:21.076 --> 00:19:22.953
We did it. We won.

00:19:25.747 --> 00:19:28.167
But that’s not the end…

00:19:29.293 --> 00:19:31.044
We won a battle

00:19:31.170 --> 00:19:35.674
but the next one
might be more difficult.

00:19:46.393 --> 00:19:49.813
Once they [the government]
started to see us as a threat,

00:19:51.273 --> 00:19:56.361
they created an
exclusive intelligence service

00:19:56.612 --> 00:19:58.780
to harass us,

00:20:00.866 --> 00:20:06.705
and to fabricate a criminal
narrative in order to prosecute us.

00:20:23.597 --> 00:20:26.141
They created a surveillance
team to follow me.

00:20:27.184 --> 00:20:29.436
They were persecuting me

00:20:29.728 --> 00:20:32.731
for being a leader,
a spokesperson,

00:20:32.856 --> 00:20:36.235
and for speaking our
indigenous language.

00:20:41.240 --> 00:20:42.824
I am not a terrorist.

00:20:42.950 --> 00:20:44.618
I am a Chief!

00:20:48.830 --> 00:20:52.709
In 2018, Alberto and
two other Mapuche men

00:20:52.793 --> 00:20:55.295
are arrested and charged
with armed robbery,

00:20:55.545 --> 00:20:57.547
based only on an anonymous phone call.

00:20:59.132 --> 00:21:01.969
There is no evidence
linking him to the crime.

00:21:03.595 --> 00:21:07.891
Prosecutors are pushing
for a 48-year sentence.

00:21:27.411 --> 00:21:30.539
I knew that at some point
my dad would get arrested.

00:21:31.873 --> 00:21:34.001
When I got home,

00:21:34.126 --> 00:21:37.254
it really hit me.

00:21:39.923 --> 00:21:41.842
When I saw how our house
had been ransacked.

00:21:42.092 --> 00:21:44.219
The door was broken down.

00:21:45.637 --> 00:21:49.057
Then it came out in the news
and people started talking about it.

00:21:50.267 --> 00:21:52.269
It was all so difficult.

00:22:07.701 --> 00:22:09.453
Brothers and sisters,

00:22:10.329 --> 00:22:14.166
I am sending everyone
a warm greeting.

00:22:15.083 --> 00:22:19.463
I did not want to miss this ceremony

00:22:19.588 --> 00:22:21.965
that is so important for all of us.

00:22:23.175 --> 00:22:26.261

I'm sorry I can't be there with you today.

00:22:29.389 --> 00:22:32.225
I can’t deny that this
is very emotional for me.

00:22:33.769 --> 00:22:36.688
But this is part of being
human brothers and sisters.

00:22:37.314 --> 00:22:40.359
Crying is also part of the fight.

00:22:42.736 --> 00:22:47.157
I am proud to be a Mapuche,
they will not silence me.

00:22:49.493 --> 00:22:51.828
I know we will win this battle.

00:22:53.872 --> 00:22:57.084
I’m sending you all a big hug
from this political prison. 

00:23:05.342 --> 00:23:07.552
Marichiweu!
(We will win 10 times!)

00:23:14.893 --> 00:23:19.439
This entire process has been
very difficult, for our entire family.

00:23:19.773 --> 00:23:24.861
I have to take on my father’s
responsibilities and it’s been difficult.

00:23:28.907 --> 00:23:32.869
My father would always tell me,
“You will have to speak for me.”

00:23:33.745 --> 00:23:36.540
And I would say,
“Yes dad, I will be there.”

00:23:37.082 --> 00:23:39.918
But one is never really
prepared for something like this.

00:23:41.586 --> 00:23:43.547
My name is Belen Curamil.

00:23:43.588 --> 00:23:46.716
I am the daughter and
spokesperson for Chief Alberto Curamil.

00:23:46.800 --> 00:23:50.971
He and all the Mapuche political prisoners

00:23:51.054 --> 00:23:53.390
send you a message
of hope from their jail cells.

00:23:54.057 --> 00:23:56.935
Free the Mapuche

00:23:57.018 --> 00:23:59.980
fighting for their rights!

00:24:02.023 --> 00:24:06.236
Alberto's imprisonment brings
global attention to his activism.

00:24:07.654 --> 00:24:13.410
In April 2019 he is awarded the
prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize.

00:24:25.046 --> 00:24:27.924
“The Mapuche struggle
is an ecological struggle.

00:24:28.383 --> 00:24:32.137
“MAPU” is the earth
and everything that exists.

00:24:32.596 --> 00:24:34.806
“Che” is we,

00:24:34.806 --> 00:24:36.850
the people who inhabit the earth.

00:24:37.559 --> 00:24:40.395
Therefore we are the people of the earth

00:24:40.896 --> 00:24:42.939
whose main responsibility

00:24:43.023 --> 00:24:47.569
is to protect everything
that makes life possible.

00:24:48.069 --> 00:24:52.949
This spirituality is rooted
deeply in the natural world.

00:24:55.577 --> 00:24:58.330
Free the Lonko Alberto Curamil!

00:24:58.413 --> 00:25:01.750
Free all Mapuche political prisoners!

00:25:01.791 --> 00:25:03.585
Marichiweu!

00:25:28.902 --> 00:25:30.654
I miss Alberto.

00:25:32.489 --> 00:25:35.492
It’s the same every day.
When I wake up,

00:25:35.951 --> 00:25:38.954
when I lie down,
when I go to work,

00:25:39.162 --> 00:25:42.332
when I finish work, exhausted.

00:25:43.124 --> 00:25:46.253
I think that he’ll be waiting for me at home, but…

00:25:46.628 --> 00:25:47.754
no.

00:26:03.478 --> 00:26:06.690
Mom!
This thing flies high!

00:26:15.115 --> 00:26:19.828
I bring him food every
Saturday when I go to visit.

00:26:25.667 --> 00:26:29.588
I show up with my best face on,
my best smile, even though I’m tired,

00:26:31.172 --> 00:26:35.010
but I can’t show him my sadness.

00:26:35.760 --> 00:26:40.390
I don’t want him to be concerned
about me or to worry about the kids.

00:26:41.433 --> 00:26:44.728
I carry that for me alone, inside.

00:27:55.423 --> 00:27:57.842
I have always loved the land.

00:27:59.135 --> 00:28:03.723
I was raised with the philosophy
that we live from the Earth.

00:28:05.934 --> 00:28:12.524
Our community survives by
growing corn and raising cattle.

00:28:20.198 --> 00:28:22.784
My wife and I have
tried to instill in our kids

00:28:22.867 --> 00:28:24.911
that money isn’t everything.

00:28:26.955 --> 00:28:31.334
To live we need clean water
and air, to breathe,

00:28:31.584 --> 00:28:35.380
and land to farm so we can eat.

00:28:41.845 --> 00:28:44.764
I've been with Francisco for twenty years.

00:28:45.890 --> 00:28:49.102
We built our home here.

00:28:50.061 --> 00:28:51.980
It's humble, but we're happy.

00:29:05.493 --> 00:29:08.580
Water is a big problem in El Salvador.

00:29:09.706 --> 00:29:16.421
Many don’t have running water
and 90% of the surface water is contaminated.

00:29:16.629 --> 00:29:21.301
And it’s threatened by mining
projects of the company Pacific Rim.

00:29:29.350 --> 00:29:36.149
“Socially and environmentally responsible mining.”

00:29:37.192 --> 00:29:40.779
In 2002, Pacific Rim Mining Corporation

00:29:40.820 --> 00:29:43.823
began exploration
of the El Dorado gold mine

00:29:44.032 --> 00:29:46.451
near Francisco's town
of San Isidro.

00:29:47.702 --> 00:29:52.415
The projected profit was
$1.6 billion dollars.

00:29:54.292 --> 00:29:57.670
The company began
to do charitable work

00:29:58.546 --> 00:30:00.173
to demonstrate

00:30:00.215 --> 00:30:05.345
that they were not just extracting a product.

00:30:08.056 --> 00:30:10.975
They built retaining
walls for the hospital,

00:30:11.267 --> 00:30:15.021
and school classrooms.

00:30:28.660 --> 00:30:31.204
-Good afternoon, Mr. Shrake.
-Good afternoon.

00:30:31.246 --> 00:30:34.123
Thank you for being here today.

00:30:34.749 --> 00:30:38.837
Thomas Shrake is the president
of Pacific Rim Mining Corporation.

00:30:39.212 --> 00:30:42.382
He testified at the World Bank
on the safety and benefits

00:30:42.423 --> 00:30:44.342
of the El Dorado gold mine.

00:30:44.425 --> 00:30:48.221
Can you please explain why
the interest in the El Dorado deposit.

00:30:48.263 --> 00:30:51.599
We launched a new business initiative

00:30:51.850 --> 00:30:56.938
with the intent of looking for a
specific geologic type of gold deposit

00:30:57.230 --> 00:30:59.232
that offered high margins,

00:30:59.315 --> 00:31:05.029
but also offered extremely low risk in terms
of environmental contamination of any kind.

00:31:06.072 --> 00:31:08.366
The mine design that we submitted

00:31:08.366 --> 00:31:10.827
would set new precedents in all the Americas.

00:31:10.869 --> 00:31:16.749
There’s only one mine on the globe that I know
of that has taken the steps that we have taken

00:31:16.833 --> 00:31:18.668
for environmental protection.

00:31:19.419 --> 00:31:22.922
The ways in which we protect
the water are numerous.

00:31:25.633 --> 00:31:30.096
At that time we didn’t know a thing
about the impact of mining.

00:31:31.097 --> 00:31:36.769
In 2004, when the river dried up, bone dry.

00:31:38.605 --> 00:31:41.065
Everyone was worried.

00:31:42.442 --> 00:31:47.071
We walked towards
the source of the river.

00:31:53.369 --> 00:31:56.956
We found Pacific Rim’s
pumps extracting river water.

00:31:58.791 --> 00:32:01.920
In just one hour, they’ll use
the same amount of water

00:32:01.920 --> 00:32:06.090
an average family uses in 30 years.

00:32:09.594 --> 00:32:13.514
We figured that the mayor would tell Pacific Rim

00:32:14.098 --> 00:32:15.725
that this was prohibited.
“Get rid of the pumps!”

00:32:15.725 --> 00:32:17.769
For us it was a no-brainer.

00:32:18.269 --> 00:32:22.231
But the mayor told me,
“No, I’m not getting involved in this.”

00:32:22.815 --> 00:32:26.861
We got mad,
because he was the highest authority

00:32:26.903 --> 00:32:28.363
and he refused to do anything.

00:32:29.197 --> 00:32:30.782
Good morning, How are you?

00:32:33.076 --> 00:32:34.744
-Good morning!
-Good morning.

00:32:34.827 --> 00:32:37.038
-How are you?
-Good, thank God.

00:32:40.541 --> 00:32:44.295
-How’s business?
-OK. Still here.

00:32:46.297 --> 00:32:50.843
If our local government is unable

00:32:50.927 --> 00:32:53.179
to create jobs

00:32:53.262 --> 00:33:01.938
we have to find someone who can.

00:33:02.855 --> 00:33:07.276
This does not mean we
are going to be irresponsible,

00:33:07.819 --> 00:33:16.202
allowing an industry to come
in and contaminate or destroy our environment.

00:33:21.124 --> 00:33:23.209
This used to be full of fish.

00:33:23.584 --> 00:33:27.880
I could catch tilapia and filines here.

00:33:28.548 --> 00:33:31.426
Now you can’t even see a guppy.

00:33:36.139 --> 00:33:39.308
Gold mining not only uses
vast amounts of water,

00:33:39.726 --> 00:33:43.104
it also releases heavy metals,
like lead and arsenic,

00:33:43.229 --> 00:33:45.523
that pollute the water, ground, and air.

00:33:46.649 --> 00:33:48.693
And like many gold mines,

00:33:48.735 --> 00:33:52.155
Pacific Rim will use
cyanide in the mining process.

00:33:52.780 --> 00:33:56.284
After the cyanide has been leached,
or has been denatured,

00:33:56.367 --> 00:34:00.204
we put this material into
this impoundment system

00:34:00.288 --> 00:34:07.086
and it completely protects it from coming
in any contact with the surrounding environment.

00:34:10.173 --> 00:34:13.593
Any water discharged out of the
system will go through a water treatment plant,

00:34:13.676 --> 00:34:20.433
so it actually leaves the site cleaner than it
drained into the site when we collected it in the reservoir.

00:34:24.771 --> 00:34:29.067
They plan to use two tons of cyanide per day.

00:34:29.108 --> 00:34:33.321
This would contaminate all the
surface and underground waters.

00:34:34.822 --> 00:34:38.910
This threatens
all forms of life,

00:34:39.911 --> 00:34:43.498
especially humans,
who accumulate the poison in their bodies.

00:34:47.543 --> 00:34:52.632
An amount equal to the size of
one grain of rice can kill a person.

00:35:00.056 --> 00:35:02.433
I’m coming!

00:35:04.018 --> 00:35:05.478
Good morning!

00:35:05.937 --> 00:35:11.025
We’re trying to raise
awareness about mining

00:35:11.109 --> 00:35:15.780
because it will affect our
lives and our children’s lives.

00:35:21.452 --> 00:35:24.539
Many communities joined us:

00:35:24.664 --> 00:35:29.043
8, 10, 12 and today we
have 26 communities organizing.

00:35:31.129 --> 00:35:33.548
This is how we want to live,

00:35:33.631 --> 00:35:35.967
with clean water.

00:35:36.759 --> 00:35:39.011
That’s when we started

00:35:39.220 --> 00:35:41.556
the Environmental Committee of Cabanas.

00:35:41.556 --> 00:35:44.517
We said “Let’s get organized

00:35:45.643 --> 00:35:49.063
and show them that we’re capable of stopping this.”

00:35:51.190 --> 00:35:53.234
Mayoral candidates forum

00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:57.822
Good morning neighbors.

00:35:58.406 --> 00:36:01.492
We want to hear the proposals

00:36:01.701 --> 00:36:05.413
that the candidates bring to our community.

00:36:05.538 --> 00:36:11.544
We are disappointed that the
current mayor did not join us.

00:36:11.794 --> 00:36:15.381
Each of you can
decide what that means.

00:36:16.716 --> 00:36:20.428
The opposition always attacks us,

00:36:20.678 --> 00:36:23.306
and publicly accuses us

00:36:23.306 --> 00:36:26.809
of selling out to the company.

00:36:28.769 --> 00:36:31.397
Everyone was afraid
to confront the mayor

00:36:31.898 --> 00:36:34.275
because of our country’s history

00:36:34.358 --> 00:36:37.737
that anyone who goes up
against those in power ends up dead.

00:36:40.865 --> 00:36:42.575
During the 1980’s,

00:36:42.617 --> 00:36:45.745
El Salvador was torn
apart by a civil war

00:36:45.828 --> 00:36:48.748
that pitted left wing
rebels -  the FMLN - 

00:36:48.831 --> 00:36:52.335
against ARENA, a right
wing conservative party

00:36:52.418 --> 00:36:56.005
that was supported by the
army and by the United States.

00:36:57.256 --> 00:36:58.799
Let us show the world

00:36:59.258 --> 00:37:02.553
that we want no hostile,
communist colonies

00:37:02.637 --> 00:37:06.390
here in the Americas,
South, Central or North.

00:37:13.940 --> 00:37:16.484
My son!
Oh My God!

00:37:18.736 --> 00:37:21.822
More than 70,000 civilians
were killed in the war,

00:37:22.782 --> 00:37:24.909
most of them by the military

00:37:24.951 --> 00:37:27.870
and by death squads
connected to ARENA.  

00:37:30.331 --> 00:37:33.709
After the civil war ended,
the FMLN and ARENA

00:37:33.793 --> 00:37:36.837
became El Salvador's
main political parties.

00:37:37.588 --> 00:37:39.632
The FMLN opposes mining

00:37:40.091 --> 00:37:41.801
and ARENA supports it.

00:37:42.551 --> 00:37:47.890
Let’s welcome our present
and future Mayor of San Isidro,

00:37:47.974 --> 00:37:50.935
the engineer,
José Ignacio Bautista!

00:37:53.980 --> 00:37:57.483
Please raise your flags

00:37:57.566 --> 00:38:00.820
and sing the ceremonious ARENA anthem!

00:38:02.571 --> 00:38:05.533
The Republican,

00:38:05.616 --> 00:38:09.120
Nationalist, Alliance of El Salvador!

00:38:09.161 --> 00:38:10.830
Patria, sì!
Comunismo, no!

00:38:10.913 --> 00:38:12.498
Fatherland, Yes!
Communism, No!

00:38:12.581 --> 00:38:15.793
Freedom is written with blood,

00:38:16.043 --> 00:38:18.963
work with sweat,

00:38:19.297 --> 00:38:22.133
we’ll unite sweat and blood

00:38:22.258 --> 00:38:25.386
but first, El Salvador!

00:38:26.012 --> 00:38:29.348
El Salvador, will be the graveyard

00:38:29.432 --> 00:38:32.476
where the reds will meet their end.

00:38:32.935 --> 00:38:36.272
Saving America,

00:38:36.355 --> 00:38:40.443
our Immortal America!

00:38:41.193 --> 00:38:42.695
ARENA!

00:38:49.660 --> 00:38:51.579
If something happens to me,

00:38:51.579 --> 00:38:55.249
it will be the mining company's responsibility.

00:38:55.333 --> 00:38:56.709
We as residents

00:38:56.709 --> 00:39:04.216
and farmers want mining
companies to come to Cabañas.

00:39:06.218 --> 00:39:09.263
We must be tolerant!

00:39:09.972 --> 00:39:12.183
They know

00:39:12.266 --> 00:39:15.561
it will adversely affect us,

00:39:15.644 --> 00:39:20.107
but they are more interested
in money than in life itself.

00:39:27.990 --> 00:39:30.951
We want a law

00:39:30.993 --> 00:39:37.750
that prohibits metallic
mining in El Salvador.

00:39:38.334 --> 00:39:40.711
Water is essential

00:39:41.003 --> 00:39:43.714
for our survival.

00:39:47.301 --> 00:39:49.678
With support from the catholic church,

00:39:49.720 --> 00:39:52.431
the anti-mining movemen gains momentum.

00:39:53.849 --> 00:39:57.228
In the lead-up to the 2009
presidential election,

00:39:57.311 --> 00:40:00.689
with polls showing
major opposition to mining,

00:40:00.773 --> 00:40:03.818
the president – thought a member of the arena party –

00:40:03.901 --> 00:40:05.236
bans all mining. 

00:40:06.153 --> 00:40:09.240
-Say yes to life!

00:40:09.281 --> 00:40:10.741
-Say no to mining!

00:40:10.866 --> 00:40:13.786
Pacific Rim's operations are shut down.

00:40:14.912 --> 00:40:19.166
The most important thing is that
today we stopped mining in El Salvador.

00:40:19.250 --> 00:40:23.838
There isn’t one mining project
in our country.

00:40:24.130 --> 00:40:26.090
That’s huge.

00:40:35.015 --> 00:40:40.062
At that point, we really didn't see
that we had a lot of options,

00:40:40.396 --> 00:40:46.485
and so we began to pursue
legal options as a solution.

00:40:49.113 --> 00:40:54.660
Pacific Rim files a $300 million dollar lawsuit
against El Salvador in the world bank,

00:40:55.619 --> 00:40:58.122
charging violation of CAFTA,

00:40:58.414 --> 00:41:00.916
the central american
free trade agreement.

00:41:04.295 --> 00:41:07.298
This would have a huge impact

00:41:07.506 --> 00:41:10.217
on all of El Salvador.

00:41:11.719 --> 00:41:16.182
How many children would
have to go without an education?

00:41:17.475 --> 00:41:20.728
How many hospitals would
be without medicine?

00:41:34.116 --> 00:41:38.621
When Francisco began doing this work,

00:41:38.787 --> 00:41:41.332
I was scared, and I still am scared.

00:41:44.001 --> 00:41:46.545
When he started the resistance,

00:41:46.545 --> 00:41:49.298
I asked if he thought it was better for us to separate

00:41:50.049 --> 00:41:56.096
because I didn't want to suffer
if something happened to him.

00:41:56.597 --> 00:41:58.724
Our entire family would suffer.

00:41:59.266 --> 00:42:04.188
I’m still afraid that something might happen to him.

00:42:10.903 --> 00:42:16.492
In the summer of 2009,
Francisco begins receiving threatening text messages.

00:42:17.159 --> 00:42:22.957
KEEP YOUR MOUTH SHUT OR WE’LL DO IT PERMANENTLY.

00:42:24.041 --> 00:42:27.461
Then, the tortured body of Marcelo Rivera,

00:42:27.962 --> 00:42:30.798
Francisco's friend and fellow anti-mining activist,

00:42:32.007 --> 00:42:34.385
is found in an abandoned well.

00:42:35.928 --> 00:42:39.557
YOU’VE BEEN WARNED.
STOP MESSING AROUND.

00:42:39.598 --> 00:42:42.726
YOU DON’T WANT TO END UP LIKE MARCELO.

00:42:45.271 --> 00:42:49.400
When the bodyguards first came here
I felt uncomfortable.

00:42:53.404 --> 00:42:56.198
Abbiamo dovuto togliere
nostra figlia dalla sua stanza

00:42:56.240 --> 00:43:00.786
We had to move our daughter out of her
bedroom so they would have a place to sleep.

00:43:03.080 --> 00:43:04.623
I don’t like it,

00:43:05.124 --> 00:43:07.710
but we have to do it.

00:43:18.887 --> 00:43:24.018
We were celebrating
our daughter's 16th birthday.

00:43:24.852 --> 00:43:27.062
When I received a call telling me…

00:43:27.980 --> 00:43:30.482
that our friend Ramiro…

00:43:31.567 --> 00:43:33.902
had been attacked.

00:43:35.696 --> 00:43:37.489
He was murdered.

00:43:37.740 --> 00:43:41.535
Simply… for defending land.

00:43:43.495 --> 00:43:45.456
For defending life.

00:43:47.791 --> 00:43:51.629
My family and I were
not ready for this.

00:43:58.385 --> 00:43:59.303
Days later,

00:43:59.345 --> 00:44:01.221
Dora Alicia Recinos is shot.

00:44:01.472 --> 00:44:03.641
She was eight months pregnant.

00:44:04.475 --> 00:44:07.853
Her two-year-old son is also wounded in the attack.

00:44:08.103 --> 00:44:11.190
The killers were coming for Dora's husband Jose.

00:44:11.231 --> 00:44:12.941
When they don’t find him,

00:44:12.983 --> 00:44:16.028
they kill her and her unborn child instead.

00:44:23.410 --> 00:44:24.787
The following year,

00:44:24.995 --> 00:44:26.872
another murder stuns the community

00:44:27.206 --> 00:44:30.876
when college student
Juan Francisco Duran disappears

00:44:31.418 --> 00:44:33.671
putting up anti-mining posters.

00:44:34.546 --> 00:44:36.674
His body is found in a mass grave.

00:44:37.424 --> 00:44:40.969
Police call the murders “gang killings.”

00:44:47.351 --> 00:44:51.980
We have no doubt who is behind the killings.

00:44:53.190 --> 00:44:58.362
A Pacific Rim employee wanted to poison me,

00:44:58.362 --> 00:45:01.448
offering $2,000 to a woman who works in our home

00:45:01.615 --> 00:45:06.745
to poison my food.

00:45:14.086 --> 00:45:18.048
I was accused of  murder,

00:45:19.883 --> 00:45:26.473
but I could never imagine hurting anyone.

00:45:28.600 --> 00:45:33.897
Many times in war,

00:45:34.648 --> 00:45:38.402
one comrade kills another one to make him into a martyr.

00:45:40.821 --> 00:45:43.323
Any murder in El Salvador is a tragedy.

00:45:43.449 --> 00:45:46.285
Any death, unnecessary death is a tragedy.

00:45:46.368 --> 00:45:49.788
And there’s far too much of it in
El Salvador, far too much violence.

00:45:50.330 --> 00:45:53.709
We actually go out of our way to train our employees

00:45:53.751 --> 00:45:57.755
to turn the other cheek in the event
of a confrontation in the mining debate.

00:45:58.088 --> 00:46:03.927
We basically ask that they use Mahatma Gandhi
as an example of how to conduct themselves.

00:46:13.187 --> 00:46:15.147
Brothers and sisters,

00:46:16.190 --> 00:46:18.609
this is the one-year anniversary

00:46:19.276 --> 00:46:23.197
of our comrades’ deaths.

00:46:24.698 --> 00:46:27.117
This conflict did not exist

00:46:27.117 --> 00:46:32.122
before the mining company Pacific Rim came here!

00:46:35.083 --> 00:46:41.799
This company is to blame for the division in our communities.

00:46:42.341 --> 00:46:46.136
We don’t want mining exploitation in our lands.

00:46:46.720 --> 00:46:51.391
We don’t want more persecution of our farmers.

00:46:51.975 --> 00:46:54.728
We don’t want more death threats,

00:46:54.728 --> 00:46:57.147
we don’t want more bloodshed,

00:46:57.189 --> 00:47:00.818
because God wants us to love each other.

00:47:03.487 --> 00:47:05.155
They are not dead!

00:47:05.239 --> 00:47:08.659
They live in each of us!

00:47:08.867 --> 00:47:10.828
Long live Ramiro Rivera!

00:47:20.879 --> 00:47:24.508
Sometimes I feel safe,
but other times I don’t.

00:47:26.677 --> 00:47:32.766
I’ve heard that they want to hurt him.

00:47:34.393 --> 00:47:36.395
So I’m worried.

00:47:36.979 --> 00:47:44.236
I really feel that his work is important
for the whole community.

00:47:44.862 --> 00:47:51.326
But sometimes I tell him that
if we see a threat, he should stop.

00:47:51.368 --> 00:47:55.080
But he says that won’t solve anything.

00:47:58.083 --> 00:48:01.920
I haven’t lost hope that we can be happy,

00:48:01.962 --> 00:48:04.798
that we can live together as a family,

00:48:05.257 --> 00:48:08.427
and that they won’t hurt him.

00:48:09.970 --> 00:48:14.349
Or my daughters.

00:49:20.207 --> 00:49:23.543
This river is used for growing our food.

00:49:26.713 --> 00:49:29.299
We also grow medicinal plants.

00:49:34.805 --> 00:49:39.101
The river also has great
cultural and spiritual significance.

00:49:40.310 --> 00:49:42.312
It signifies life.

00:49:42.854 --> 00:49:47.067
For me it is worth fighting for this river.

00:49:47.693 --> 00:49:49.695
It’s actually an honor.

00:49:59.538 --> 00:50:01.999
Police clashed with hundreds of protesters

00:50:02.082 --> 00:50:05.502
angered by the military overthrow
of president Manuel Zelaya.

00:50:05.585 --> 00:50:06.962
Damn traitors!

00:50:07.004 --> 00:50:10.549
Mr. Zelaya was rousted out of his
bedroom in the Presidential Palace

00:50:10.549 --> 00:50:13.593
by Honduran soldiers and sent into exile.

00:50:13.719 --> 00:50:16.930
You are the people!
Defend us!

00:50:19.641 --> 00:50:26.231
But on Tuesday, Mr. Zelaya received affirmation
from the United Nations demanding his reinstatement.

00:50:27.733 --> 00:50:33.030
The military coup was a reaction

00:50:33.238 --> 00:50:39.286
to the socio-economic policies
that my government took

00:50:39.411 --> 00:50:42.122
to gain market freedom.

00:50:43.040 --> 00:50:45.667
I bought Chavez’s oil (from Venezuela),

00:50:46.209 --> 00:50:52.174
which exasperated and irritated
the American and European oil companies.

00:50:53.884 --> 00:50:57.429
Zelaya acknowledged the
struggles of indigenous communities,

00:50:57.554 --> 00:51:01.058
and had worked with Indigenous
Lenca leader Berta Cáceres

00:51:01.058 --> 00:51:03.518
on the protection of ancestral land rights.

00:51:04.770 --> 00:51:08.148
The Lenca are the largest
Indigenous group in Honduras.

00:51:10.525 --> 00:51:12.235
After the coup d'état

00:51:12.235 --> 00:51:14.488
we sensed what was
coming for the communities.

00:51:19.117 --> 00:51:23.830
We are experiencing one of the
greatest handing over of sovereignty

00:51:24.539 --> 00:51:27.167
that we’ve seen in the past 500 years.

00:51:38.095 --> 00:51:40.806
Since 2009, the year of the coup,

00:51:42.265 --> 00:51:46.603
the Honduran territory was practically
handed over to the transnational corporations

00:51:46.686 --> 00:51:49.231
and hydroelectric projects

00:51:49.439 --> 00:51:51.817
took over the rivers in our country.

00:51:53.819 --> 00:51:55.028
The government

00:51:55.028 --> 00:51:58.406
approved more than 1,400 concessions

00:51:58.990 --> 00:52:02.244
of mining and hydroelectric
concessions inside Honduras.

00:52:02.661 --> 00:52:07.207
The transnational corporations
are creating a disaster.

00:52:11.920 --> 00:52:16.591
One of the contracts is granted to the newly
  formed Honduran hydroelectric company,

00:52:16.758 --> 00:52:19.803
Desarrollos Energéticos, or DESA.

00:52:25.142 --> 00:52:28.687
Working with the Chinese
engineering giant Sinohydro,

00:52:28.770 --> 00:52:33.733
DESA will build the Agua Zarca hydroelectric
project on the Gualcarque river

00:52:34.067 --> 00:52:36.319
near the community of Rio Blanco.

00:52:37.696 --> 00:52:44.244
The concession was granted to DESA
hydroelectric power company, and to the Atala Group.

00:52:45.495 --> 00:52:49.291
And of course, the World Bank was involved,

00:52:50.208 --> 00:52:53.253
the Dutch Bank, and the Bank of Finland,

00:52:55.338 --> 00:52:59.092
so we knew what
we were up against.

00:53:04.514 --> 00:53:06.933
One of our country's
most profitable businesses,

00:53:06.933 --> 00:53:08.351
after drug dealing,

00:53:08.351 --> 00:53:10.228
is power generation.

00:53:11.730 --> 00:53:13.899
And the rampant corruption

00:53:14.482 --> 00:53:17.527
makes it easy to get environmental aproval,

00:53:18.486 --> 00:53:20.822
permits and contracts.

00:53:24.826 --> 00:53:28.246
They have the support of the Honduran State,

00:53:28.663 --> 00:53:30.457
the military,

00:53:31.249 --> 00:53:33.752
congress, all of the power structures.

00:53:35.420 --> 00:53:37.672
A very pernicious elite have
monopolies here in Honduras

00:53:37.672 --> 00:53:43.053
and they control everything.

00:53:44.679 --> 00:53:47.390
The water, the rivers,
the forest, the sea,

00:53:47.682 --> 00:53:51.978
the telecommunications,
the oil, the energy, the roads;

00:53:52.020 --> 00:53:54.606
they run everything,
impoverishing our country.

00:53:55.315 --> 00:53:59.069
Listen, DESA is one of a whole number
of hydroelectric companies

00:53:59.152 --> 00:54:01.404
that grew out of new legislation

00:54:01.613 --> 00:54:06.493
when the government in Honduras
wanted to move away from fossil fuels.

00:54:08.495 --> 00:54:13.124
The plan was to bring hydroelectric
power to the country,

00:54:13.291 --> 00:54:18.505
to also electrify the villages and
provide infrastructure in the region.

00:54:22.259 --> 00:54:25.178
The corporations arrived in our communities

00:54:25.262 --> 00:54:31.768
as if nothing was wrong,
as if they owned the rivers.

00:54:35.397 --> 00:54:37.274
They came with money,

00:54:37.274 --> 00:54:40.443
they came with a lot of prestige
and they came heavily armed.

00:54:45.573 --> 00:54:46.992
The Honduran army

00:54:47.033 --> 00:54:50.662
came to evict the local farmers.

00:54:51.663 --> 00:54:54.708
We had beans planted,
but when SinoHydro came in,

00:54:54.791 --> 00:54:57.127
they ran their tractors over our fields.

00:55:00.213 --> 00:55:03.091
They destroyed everything.

00:55:14.936 --> 00:55:17.814
The people were not consulted

00:55:17.897 --> 00:55:21.776
which is a violation of the right to Free,
Prior and Informed Consent.

00:55:24.946 --> 00:55:29.284
This is established in Convention 169,
on the rights of Indigenous people.

00:55:29.367 --> 00:55:32.537
The concessions are illegal

00:55:32.579 --> 00:55:38.668
because they don’t have the people’s consent.

00:55:40.295 --> 00:55:41.087
You know what?

00:55:41.087 --> 00:55:43.757
When you’ve got your hospital,
and you’ve got your school,

00:55:43.798 --> 00:55:47.093
then let’s fight for
ensuring we’re properly informed.

00:55:47.927 --> 00:55:53.266
DESA was the first one to
even try to electrify the villages,

00:55:53.892 --> 00:55:57.479
build a bridge that had not existed before.

00:55:58.438 --> 00:56:01.483
It's extraordinary what these
young men had tried to put together.

00:56:04.027 --> 00:56:06.237
My name is David Castillo,

00:56:06.404 --> 00:56:09.741
and I represent DESA,

00:56:10.033 --> 00:56:15.872
the energy company running
the Agua Zarca Project, the dam.

00:56:15.997 --> 00:56:19.793
David Castillo presented himself
as a company representative,

00:56:21.127 --> 00:56:26.132
like so many executives
of other hydroelectric projects

00:56:27.008 --> 00:56:30.595
making promises to the people,
talking about aid projects.

00:56:31.179 --> 00:56:34.474
But he didn't reveal
who he really was.

00:56:34.766 --> 00:56:38.520
You’ve raised concerns

00:56:38.520 --> 00:56:43.274
because based on your criteria
our company is bad for you.

00:56:43.358 --> 00:56:46.319
“It is bad!” It’s very bad!

00:56:46.903 --> 00:56:50.448
We began to investigate who
David Castillo really was...

00:56:51.783 --> 00:56:54.285
He graduated from West Point Military Academy

00:56:54.994 --> 00:56:57.831
and had worked for ENEE
(Honduras's Public Utility Commission),

00:56:58.665 --> 00:57:01.918
and had been an intelligence officer
in the Honduran Armed Forces,

00:57:01.918 --> 00:57:06.339
and those connections
led to him getting the permit

00:57:06.589 --> 00:57:09.676
for the Agua Zarca water project.

00:57:11.052 --> 00:57:13.680
You are only one community.

00:57:19.394 --> 00:57:23.022
We are working with 12 other communities.

00:57:23.106 --> 00:57:26.401
They are not affected at all!

00:57:26.484 --> 00:57:29.737
We are the ones affected!

00:57:29.821 --> 00:57:32.782
We’re also working with them

00:57:33.158 --> 00:57:36.744
and we have obligations to fulfill.

00:57:37.120 --> 00:57:41.040
If you don’t want anything,
that’s up to you.

00:57:41.124 --> 00:57:43.835
We elected this mayor
and he sold us out!

00:57:45.712 --> 00:57:48.214
You brought only misfortunes to our people!

00:57:50.341 --> 00:57:52.594
Let me talk.

00:57:52.677 --> 00:57:56.890
For many years you have simply
watched the water flowing by

00:57:56.973 --> 00:57:59.058
but you’ve never used it.

00:58:00.643 --> 00:58:02.854
Now, we’re going to use it.

00:58:04.522 --> 00:58:05.982
There is life in the river.

00:58:05.982 --> 00:58:08.109
It provides water for the animals.

00:58:08.151 --> 00:58:10.778
You’re telling me that’s not using the river?

00:58:11.070 --> 00:58:12.864
We are using the river!

00:58:16.659 --> 00:58:18.828
In two Town Hall meetings

00:58:18.953 --> 00:58:21.664
and more than 150 Indigenous
assemblies and debates

00:58:21.748 --> 00:58:25.210
our people rejected the dam.

00:58:25.335 --> 00:58:29.672
They didn’t want to damage
or privatize their sacred river.

00:58:29.964 --> 00:58:33.760
I’m sure the majority of
people here support the dam.

00:58:33.801 --> 00:58:35.887
No!

00:58:36.054 --> 00:58:39.641
Get out, You Bum!
This is our land!

00:58:40.934 --> 00:58:42.018
No!

00:58:42.477 --> 00:58:43.853
No!

00:58:44.145 --> 00:58:46.481
He’s taking the land title!
He’s taking the land title!

00:58:51.569 --> 00:58:53.821
The mayor sold us out,

00:58:53.905 --> 00:58:56.866
he made a big mistake,
he sold our land.

00:58:57.367 --> 00:59:01.538
It’s obvious that the communities
do not want the hydroelectric project.

00:59:01.579 --> 00:59:04.207
-Do you want the dam?
-NO!!!

00:59:11.589 --> 00:59:13.466
Companies like DESA

00:59:13.466 --> 00:59:17.720
that go in and give them doctors
and electrification and health care

00:59:18.054 --> 00:59:20.723
if you’re a parent that’s what you want.

00:59:22.475 --> 00:59:26.062
These are people who don’t
have the money to feed their children.

00:59:26.479 --> 00:59:29.941
Forget the environmental review,
feed those children!

00:59:33.570 --> 00:59:37.323
The community of Rio Blanco
begins to mobilize against the dam

00:59:37.407 --> 00:59:40.076
with the support of
Berta’s organization, COPINH

00:59:40.410 --> 00:59:43.204
the council of popular
and Indigenous organizations.

00:59:43.580 --> 00:59:45.498
- Long live COPINH!

00:59:51.296 --> 00:59:53.548
Understanding our ancestors’ power

00:59:54.257 --> 00:59:57.468
is the key for us to be able to
hold on and to have hope.

01:00:02.599 --> 01:00:07.228
We are going to make an
offering to Mother Earth,

01:00:07.645 --> 01:00:09.939
the nine angels of heaven

01:00:10.356 --> 01:00:13.067
and the angel that protects
the Mother Earth

01:00:13.234 --> 01:00:16.529
and to our ancestors who lived

01:00:16.779 --> 01:00:18.740
and worked on this land.

01:00:26.289 --> 01:00:27.790
Transnational corporations?

01:00:27.915 --> 01:00:29.083
Out!

01:00:29.208 --> 01:00:30.543
Hydroelectric projects?

01:00:30.668 --> 01:00:31.753
Out!

01:00:32.045 --> 01:00:33.796
We want to be clear,

01:00:33.880 --> 01:00:36.424
we’ll continue this
struggle indefinitely.

01:00:37.425 --> 01:00:40.637
The COPINH have an ultra-leftist agenda,

01:00:41.638 --> 01:00:44.015
which is fine if they're a political party.

01:00:44.140 --> 01:00:47.727
But it isn't fine if they hide themselves as an NGO

01:00:47.810 --> 01:00:52.065
in an attempt to get money,
get international support.

01:00:52.315 --> 01:00:55.026
- Long live the fight of the Lenca people!

01:00:55.109 --> 01:00:56.986
- Long live COPINH!

01:00:57.236 --> 01:00:58.529
Over the years,

01:00:58.571 --> 01:01:02.200
COPINH has stopped dozens of
logging and hydro-electric projects

01:01:02.325 --> 01:01:04.452
that would have destroyed Indigenous land

01:01:04.577 --> 01:01:06.579
and impacted Lenca communities.

01:01:06.704 --> 01:01:09.290
- La diga?
- Fuori!

01:01:10.291 --> 01:01:13.419
No matter how much power they have,

01:01:14.796 --> 01:01:18.883
we’ve never been submissive in the 500
years since they (Spaniards) arrived here.

01:01:20.051 --> 01:01:23.179
COPINH was founded in 1993 by Berta

01:01:23.846 --> 01:01:26.474
and her former husband Salvador Zuniga.

01:01:29.477 --> 01:01:32.522
Our experience was rooted

01:01:32.522 --> 01:01:35.817
in the guerilla struggle in El Salvador.

01:01:39.278 --> 01:01:40.738
In the 1980’s,

01:01:40.822 --> 01:01:43.199
many Hondurans took part in the conflict.

01:01:44.033 --> 01:01:46.160
Berta and Salvador crossed the border

01:01:46.244 --> 01:01:49.414
where they joined the FMLN
as medics on the frontlines.

01:01:51.708 --> 01:01:55.336
I was shocked to discover that the combat

01:01:55.670 --> 01:01:58.589
was as intense as the battles in WWII,

01:01:59.048 --> 01:02:05.847
with artillery shells, bombing
raids from helicopters and airplanes.

01:02:08.641 --> 01:02:12.687
I must confess that I was almost
always in a state of panic.

01:02:15.398 --> 01:02:20.695
But that young woman was fearless.

01:02:23.489 --> 01:02:29.829
We decided that we must
develop non-violent strategies

01:02:31.414 --> 01:02:35.209
to create a democratic
system of self governance,

01:02:35.460 --> 01:02:39.672
to  preserve communal lands,

01:02:39.922 --> 01:02:44.260
and promote the well-being of all;
and that is how COPINH started.

01:02:44.886 --> 01:02:46.512
We are armed,

01:02:46.596 --> 01:02:49.849
not with firearms
but with spiritual weapons.

01:02:51.476 --> 01:02:52.560
That’s who we are.

01:03:01.402 --> 01:03:04.947
Construction has begun on the Agua Zarca dam,

01:03:06.240 --> 01:03:08.868
and the community is determined to stop it.

01:03:13.122 --> 01:03:15.208
Comrades, run!

01:03:16.375 --> 01:03:19.170
But now DESA has brought in the military.

01:03:23.382 --> 01:03:26.511
- DESA?
- Out!

01:03:26.594 --> 01:03:28.429
Out!

01:03:29.889 --> 01:03:32.308
This is where we farm!

01:03:32.350 --> 01:03:35.645
This is our land, n
ot the Chinese!

01:03:37.104 --> 01:03:40.358
I am here with my indigenous comrades

01:03:40.441 --> 01:03:42.944
because we work here on the Gualcarque River,

01:03:43.027 --> 01:03:47.156
and we won’t allow a transnational
corporation to come and steal our land.

01:03:47.448 --> 01:03:48.991
We won’t let them pass!

01:04:11.180 --> 01:04:14.725
Of course, the community was ignored,

01:04:15.393 --> 01:04:18.354
so they were forced to act,

01:04:18.437 --> 01:04:20.857
putting their bodies, their lives,

01:04:20.940 --> 01:04:24.277
all their hopes, their resistance,

01:04:26.279 --> 01:04:27.780
day and night,

01:04:28.573 --> 01:04:30.908
cooking there, sleeping there,

01:04:31.450 --> 01:04:34.036
enduring rain, sun, hunger,

01:04:34.078 --> 01:04:36.247
repression, harassment.

01:04:41.377 --> 01:04:43.212
Nothing could move them,

01:04:43.296 --> 01:04:45.673
not a transnational corporation,
not even the army.

01:04:45.715 --> 01:04:49.844
The only way they were going
to be moved is if they were dead.

01:04:54.015 --> 01:04:56.058
Two months into the roadblock,

01:04:56.142 --> 01:04:57.560
tensions escalate

01:04:57.602 --> 01:05:00.479
when a soldier fires into a group of protesters,

01:05:01.188 --> 01:05:03.900
killing community leader Tomas Garcia,

01:05:04.692 --> 01:05:07.069
and wounding his seventeen-year old son,

01:05:08.070 --> 01:05:09.530
Alan.

01:05:13.492 --> 01:05:16.454
Our Lord, we are mourning the death

01:05:16.621 --> 01:05:19.457
of our comrade in the struggle.

01:05:20.082 --> 01:05:22.668
The assassination of Tomás García

01:05:23.252 --> 01:05:26.923
was very painful for me because
we were good friends.

01:05:30.593 --> 01:05:35.056
We had shared in the struggle,
day and night at the blockade.

01:05:40.937 --> 01:05:43.189
Our Father, who art in Heaven.

01:05:43.272 --> 01:05:49.153
The community confronted DESA
and SinoHydro and demanded that they leave.

01:05:51.405 --> 01:05:53.366
They were told that nobody would hurt them,

01:05:53.741 --> 01:05:55.660
but they should never come back.

01:06:00.414 --> 01:06:02.833
And that is how SinoHydro left Rio Blanco,

01:06:04.543 --> 01:06:08.339
but the town paid in blood.

01:06:14.679 --> 01:06:16.430
In August 2013,

01:06:16.555 --> 01:06:19.308
the Chinese engineering company Sinohydro

01:06:19.600 --> 01:06:21.769
terminates its contract with DESA.

01:06:22.311 --> 01:06:24.563
Construction grinds to a halt.

01:06:27.149 --> 01:06:28.818
Life is different now.

01:06:28.943 --> 01:06:33.948
We are working the land
growing corn and beans.

01:06:35.616 --> 01:06:38.035
It is no longer militarized,
as when DESA was here.

01:06:38.119 --> 01:06:41.205
Now we are free to work again.

01:06:45.501 --> 01:06:47.878
But with other investors still in place,

01:06:48.170 --> 01:06:50.631
DESA hopes to restart the project.

01:06:51.382 --> 01:06:53.718
COPINH keeps up their roadblock.

01:07:00.307 --> 01:07:02.685
We have a different concept of development,

01:07:03.811 --> 01:07:07.732
based on our people’s worldview.

01:07:11.152 --> 01:07:15.656
Based on what our brothers and
sisters in the south call, good living.

01:07:19.160 --> 01:07:21.954
A life in balance, in harmony (with nature).

01:07:25.708 --> 01:07:28.169
Electricity should be a human right,

01:07:28.252 --> 01:07:32.631
not a way to loot people.

01:07:34.925 --> 01:07:36.886
We want respect.

01:07:41.932 --> 01:07:43.434
To silence critics,

01:07:43.559 --> 01:07:47.063
DESA moves their physical plant to the opposite side of the river

01:07:47.605 --> 01:07:49.732
to the state of Santa Bárbara.

01:07:50.274 --> 01:07:54.445
But the project is still in
Lenca ancestral territory,

01:07:55.029 --> 01:07:57.656
and still threatens
the Gualcarque river.

01:07:59.283 --> 01:08:02.828
And now local residents
are pitted against one another.

01:08:07.792 --> 01:08:10.503
We’ll meet tomorrow at
10am at the roadblock.

01:08:10.544 --> 01:08:12.797
We’ll have breakfast at the roadblock

01:08:12.963 --> 01:08:14.882
then the assembly,

01:08:15.341 --> 01:08:19.136
hen lunch, and then
we’ll go down to the river

01:08:19.678 --> 01:08:21.889
for the ceremony.

01:08:23.307 --> 01:08:24.892
What else do we need?

01:08:26.060 --> 01:08:29.313
The brown car will leave around 4pm,

01:08:30.189 --> 01:08:33.192
with five of us,

01:08:34.068 --> 01:08:36.070
and the rest tomorrow.

01:08:37.071 --> 01:08:40.074
Then, people from the town of
El Barrial, who are in favor of the dam,

01:08:40.157 --> 01:08:44.370
will see there are many of us,
which may stop them from bothering us.

01:08:44.537 --> 01:08:46.622
They’ve been lurking in our neighborhood

01:08:46.622 --> 01:08:50.417
and they’ve threatened Chico,
the president of our Indigenous council.

01:08:53.337 --> 01:08:55.965
The company created conflict

01:08:56.423 --> 01:08:58.843
between the communities.

01:09:00.803 --> 01:09:05.933
There were threats and
hitmen in the communities

01:09:07.226 --> 01:09:11.981
so you couldn’t tell
which side people were on.

01:09:12.398 --> 01:09:16.610
There was too much
money involved.

01:09:18.904 --> 01:09:22.074
Berta, Tomás and all of us were clear

01:09:22.408 --> 01:09:25.536
that at any moment any one of us could die.

01:09:41.427 --> 01:09:43.929
Tomás García lives on!

01:09:44.013 --> 01:09:46.182
The fight goes on, and goes on!

01:09:46.682 --> 01:09:48.893
Elva Gómez, lives on!

01:09:48.976 --> 01:09:51.312
The fight goes on, goes on!

01:09:51.312 --> 01:09:53.564
Blanca Domínguez,
William Rodrígiuez,

01:09:53.564 --> 01:09:57.318
Michael Rodríguez, Luciano
Dominguez, Simona Martínez,

01:09:57.401 --> 01:09:59.987
Magdaleno Martínez, lives on!

01:10:00.279 --> 01:10:02.323
The fight goes on, goes on!

01:10:06.660 --> 01:10:09.038
Last night the guy called me again

01:10:09.121 --> 01:10:12.124
and told me exactly
what was going to happen.

01:10:12.583 --> 01:10:15.669
He told me not to stop
the car, to keep going.

01:10:16.420 --> 01:10:18.839
And if it wasn't them,
it would be the police.

01:10:18.839 --> 01:10:22.843
He told me, "especially
the second day as you leave.”

01:10:23.135 --> 01:10:25.638
- Today?
- Tomorrow is the second day.

01:10:26.305 --> 01:10:30.935
He urgently wanted to speak with
me last night but it was too late.

01:10:43.155 --> 01:10:45.699
Berta has been receiving anonymous calls,

01:10:45.783 --> 01:10:48.953
threatening her if she travels
through a nearby community

01:10:49.036 --> 01:10:51.121
where there is support for the project.

01:10:52.915 --> 01:10:55.084
In a region with few roads,

01:10:55.125 --> 01:10:58.671
passing through the town is unavoidable.

01:11:04.260 --> 01:11:06.553
Search the vehicles…

01:11:12.351 --> 01:11:16.146
Open the door please,
I want to take a look…

01:11:17.898 --> 01:11:19.024
Is that her?

01:11:26.740 --> 01:11:27.992
No.

01:11:31.036 --> 01:11:33.080
She is not here.

01:11:33.122 --> 01:11:34.999
She is a look-alike!

01:11:38.419 --> 01:11:41.130
Linder, I’m not sure what you…

01:11:41.255 --> 01:11:47.469
We want to talk to Berta

01:11:47.553 --> 01:11:54.560
so that she can explain to us
which town the project is located in.

01:11:55.144 --> 01:11:59.606
We want to take advantage of the dam

01:11:59.690 --> 01:12:02.943
and the money that we know it will bring.

01:12:03.027 --> 01:12:05.529
We don’t want any violence.

01:12:05.612 --> 01:12:07.406
Berta was in the car.

01:12:08.157 --> 01:12:10.784
The police knew she was there.

01:12:11.243 --> 01:12:14.788
The officer's decision had to do
with being exposed in front of the cameras,

01:12:14.830 --> 01:12:17.207
with the gringos who were there,

01:12:17.416 --> 01:12:20.836
and with the conflict it would have
triggered if Berta got out of the car.

01:12:39.897 --> 01:12:42.191
I see cars going by at night

01:12:42.566 --> 01:12:45.527
with dark windows,

01:12:45.611 --> 01:12:47.529
cars without license plates.

01:12:58.707 --> 01:13:01.168
I must admit I’m scared.

01:13:01.794 --> 01:13:03.379
We are only human

01:13:04.254 --> 01:13:06.131
so we have real fears.

01:13:06.256 --> 01:13:09.426
But that doesn’t mean we are
going to be paralyzed by them.

01:13:24.942 --> 01:13:28.362
We were chatting for a
bit outside her home.

01:13:30.614 --> 01:13:33.742
Everything was silent.

01:13:38.580 --> 01:13:43.168
Suddenly I heard a very loud noise.
Berta said, “who’s there?”

01:13:45.921 --> 01:13:49.925
At that moment I knew
the hitmen had come for us.

01:13:50.634 --> 01:13:53.679
I heard, "pa - pa - pa"
the three gunshots that hit Berta.

01:13:59.351 --> 01:14:01.562
I couldn’t believe it

01:14:02.104 --> 01:14:04.648
until I heard it on the news.

01:14:06.525 --> 01:14:09.111
A moment so…

01:14:09.862 --> 01:14:11.864
difficult.

01:14:12.239 --> 01:14:15.784
Honduran indigenous and
environmental organizer Berta Cáceres

01:14:15.868 --> 01:14:18.495
has been assassinated in her home.

01:14:18.579 --> 01:14:20.581
She was one
of the leading organizers

01:14:20.581 --> 01:14:22.791
for indigenous
land rights in Honduras.

01:14:28.130 --> 01:14:33.051
In Esperanza, the Honduran city where
Berta Cáceres was born 45 years ago,

01:14:33.218 --> 01:14:37.306
they held a moving farewell
to the murdered indigenous leader.

01:14:47.232 --> 01:14:51.028
No one believed they were
capable of assassinating her.

01:14:54.448 --> 01:14:57.659
If they killed Berta Cáceras,

01:14:57.659 --> 01:15:01.538
a woman who had an international profile,

01:15:01.705 --> 01:15:05.959
perhaps one of the most recognized
defenders of Mother Earth in Honduras,

01:15:06.001 --> 01:15:08.921
in Central America,
in Latin America,

01:15:09.129 --> 01:15:11.507
then what might happen to the rest of us?

01:15:14.968 --> 01:15:20.307
COPINH and the Honduran
people are 100?rtain

01:15:20.349 --> 01:15:22.518
that the company killed her.

01:15:23.894 --> 01:15:28.565
The company acted with
malice and forethought,

01:15:28.649 --> 01:15:32.986
and with the complete
cooperation of the state.

01:15:37.449 --> 01:15:40.869
On our last trip together,

01:15:41.537 --> 01:15:45.082
she said, “they are going to kill me.”

01:15:45.582 --> 01:15:49.378
She said, “Of course, I’ll take security measures,

01:15:49.836 --> 01:15:56.343
but if it happens, the one
who will kill me is David Castillo.”

01:16:06.395 --> 01:16:09.856
My mother fought and organized.

01:16:09.982 --> 01:16:13.277
My mother cannot be murdered,

01:16:13.527 --> 01:16:17.281
my mother takes root,
is born and reborn.

01:17:03.744 --> 01:17:05.370
Hurry up!

01:17:27.392 --> 01:17:31.146
Alberto Curamil has been in
jail for almost a year and a half. 

01:17:31.355 --> 01:17:33.857
Before his case has finally come to trial.

01:17:39.655 --> 01:17:42.074
Freedom for all the Mapuche prisoners!

01:17:44.409 --> 01:17:46.244
Marichiweu!

01:17:48.580 --> 01:17:51.833
On December 13, 2019

01:17:52.584 --> 01:17:55.921
the court has reached
the following verdict.

01:17:57.589 --> 01:17:59.466
We knew that he was innocent,

01:17:59.633 --> 01:18:02.177
but we also knew that
anything could happen.

01:18:03.053 --> 01:18:05.972
The tribunal has made a decision…

01:18:06.056 --> 01:18:08.892
The presumption of innocence protects them,

01:18:08.975 --> 01:18:13.188
and there is no evidence of
his participation in the crime.

01:18:13.313 --> 01:18:18.610
As a result, he is
acquitted of all charges.

01:18:27.994 --> 01:18:30.664
You are finally going to see your Dad!

01:18:33.041 --> 01:18:34.751
We knew that they were innocent.

01:18:34.793 --> 01:18:39.381
They were imprisoned for this long
because they raised their voices

01:18:39.464 --> 01:18:41.007
and fought for our territory,

01:18:41.341 --> 01:18:42.467
for the freedom of our rivers

01:18:42.551 --> 01:18:44.970
and the freedom of the Mapuche people.

01:18:45.095 --> 01:18:46.972
Thank you.

01:18:50.934 --> 01:18:52.394
Well done.

01:19:09.369 --> 01:19:12.038
What are your first words
now that you are free?

01:19:12.122 --> 01:19:14.750
Emotionally, this has
been very difficult

01:19:14.833 --> 01:19:17.461
to face this situation.

01:19:18.795 --> 01:19:24.134
Especially… for my daughter.

01:19:24.509 --> 01:19:26.553
Yesterday she was a little girl,
and today she is a woman.

01:19:35.520 --> 01:19:37.272
Our elders told us,

01:19:39.775 --> 01:19:43.445
that if we say our prayers
and hold our ceremonies,

01:19:44.070 --> 01:19:47.783
calling on all the forces of all nature,

01:19:49.493 --> 01:19:53.246
and take pride in who we are,

01:19:54.831 --> 01:19:56.917
we will never be defeated.

01:19:58.376 --> 01:20:01.379
That is why we say with
great strength and conviction,

01:20:03.965 --> 01:20:05.717
Marichiweu!

01:20:22.275 --> 01:20:25.737
We interrupt this broadcast
for an announcement

01:20:25.779 --> 01:20:30.283
by Attorney General
Douglas Menendez,

01:20:30.325 --> 01:20:33.119
in Washington DC,
at the headquarters of the World Bank,

01:20:33.453 --> 01:20:37.791
on the ruling of Pacific Rim mining company.

01:20:39.125 --> 01:20:42.838
I have the privilege of informing
the Salvadoran people

01:20:43.296 --> 01:20:50.303
that our country has conclusively
and positively won this lawsuit.

01:20:53.431 --> 01:20:58.645
The court rejected all
charges made by Pacific Rim

01:20:58.645 --> 01:21:00.939
and ordered them

01:21:01.106 --> 01:21:07.696
to reimburse El Salvador
$8 million in legal costs.

01:21:08.405 --> 01:21:14.578
We are completely satisfied
and proud of the ruling.

01:21:14.911 --> 01:21:19.207
Finally, I would like to
say to Salvadoran citizens

01:21:19.374 --> 01:21:23.837
and specifically to
those from San Isidro,

01:21:23.879 --> 01:21:27.215
Department of Cabañas of
the Republic of El Salvador:

01:21:27.299 --> 01:21:30.969
Mission accomplished: you’ve
defended the environment! Muchas gracias.

01:21:35.807 --> 01:21:39.644
We won the battle…

01:21:40.061 --> 01:21:41.605
but we have not won the war.

01:21:42.272 --> 01:21:43.940
Let’s celebrate.

01:21:45.901 --> 01:21:52.157
It doesn’t mean that the
company lost interest in our gold.

01:21:53.158 --> 01:21:57.203
It is a sleeping monster.

01:21:57.829 --> 01:22:03.501
Waiting for the moment to
return and catch us by surprise.

01:22:03.752 --> 01:22:10.342
To our fallen comrades,
our victory is for them.

01:22:10.592 --> 01:22:14.095
-The struggle continues.
-The struggle continues comrades.

01:22:15.138 --> 01:22:19.142
Victory, after ten years of fighting.

01:22:31.154 --> 01:22:35.575
In 2017, El Salvador’s congress makes history

01:22:35.992 --> 01:22:39.746
when they become the first country
in the world to ban the mining of gold

01:22:39.829 --> 01:22:41.790
and all other metals.

01:22:49.965 --> 01:22:52.425
I went to the river that day.

01:22:54.970 --> 01:22:57.430
I felt that I was speaking to the river,

01:22:58.765 --> 01:23:03.144
telling it we had won
the fight for its survival.

01:23:27.711 --> 01:23:31.464
After my mom’s assassination
we had to decide how to continue.

01:23:31.631 --> 01:23:35.510
We considered ending the struggle,

01:23:36.219 --> 01:23:41.891
instead, we realized our mother
had planted a seed inside each of us…

01:23:41.891 --> 01:23:44.811
and she was reborn.

01:23:45.895 --> 01:23:50.442
We will only survive if we confront
the great struggles facing humanity.

01:23:50.525 --> 01:23:55.447
The defense of the Earth,
and defense of the rivers.

01:23:56.948 --> 01:24:02.037
Justice is not only served in the courts.

01:24:02.579 --> 01:24:06.082
Justice also means that the
Gualcarque River runs free.

01:24:23.308 --> 01:24:27.729
In 2018, eight men accused
of Berta's assassination

01:24:27.812 --> 01:24:29.439
are put on trial.

01:24:29.522 --> 01:24:33.526
They have ties to the Honduran military and to DESA,

01:24:33.568 --> 01:24:36.237

the company behind the hydro-electric project.

01:24:37.614 --> 01:24:38.948
Seven of the eight,

01:24:38.990 --> 01:24:41.117
including DESA’s head of security,

01:24:41.201 --> 01:24:43.536
are convicted of killing Berta

01:24:43.953 --> 01:24:47.207
receiving sentences of 30 to 50 years.

01:24:55.131 --> 01:24:57.425
My name is David Castillo…

01:24:57.509 --> 01:25:01.262
Ultimately, David Castillo,
president of DESA,

01:25:01.346 --> 01:25:04.182
is convicted of masterminding
Berta's murder

01:25:04.265 --> 01:25:07.477
and sentenced to 22
and a half years in prison.

01:25:18.113 --> 01:25:20.824
They thought they killed her,

01:25:21.741 --> 01:25:23.535
but Berta lives.

01:25:24.285 --> 01:25:26.079
She lives in everybody;

01:25:26.955 --> 01:25:29.415
she lives in the hearts of Indigenous people.

01:25:29.415 --> 01:25:33.545
She lives in Mother Earth, in the sky,
the rivers, the birdsongs.

01:25:33.628 --> 01:25:34.796
She lives everywhere.

01:25:53.022 --> 01:25:56.234
THE GIRL GUARDIAN OF THE RIVERS.

01:26:05.660 --> 01:26:08.663
When we started the fight for Río Blanco,

01:26:08.663 --> 01:26:14.419
I would go to the river and I could
feel what the river was telling me.

01:26:16.838 --> 01:26:19.007
I knew what was going to happen,

01:26:19.799 --> 01:26:22.177
I knew it was going to be difficult.

01:26:22.802 --> 01:26:25.221
But I also knew that we were going to triumph,

01:26:26.472 --> 01:26:28.516
because the river told me so.

01:26:30.226 --> 01:26:35.607
“Wake up humanity, there is no more time.”