Letters to sustainers

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April 2005

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February 2005

“I believe that we in El Salvador are giving the reason for our hope, because we do not rest our hope in power or money, but in the true source of hope…”
-Archbishop Romero, April 30, 1978

Dear Friends,

Greetings in the spirit of Archbishop Romero! During this, the season of his martyrdom, we have a chance to explore the questions: What treasure can I find in Romero’s legacy? Where does my treasure lie? I have recently spent two years living and working in El Salvador asking myself just that. Now, having returned to life in the United States where I am surrounded by material treasures, looking to his example has helped me to sift through the fool’s gold of fancy cars, fashionable clothes, and fine food. As communities of Northern El Salvador have found – all that shines is not gold. True treasure often lies in the example of those forging a life without any of these so-called treasures.

In their own search for buried treasure of their own, companies have gone to work throughout that region. They have approached poor families and offered them sums of money to dig small holes in their land. Unfortunately behind the mask of these bribes is the truth – they are looking for flecks of gold, and if they find what they are looking for, the family’s land, community, and livelihood may be at stake.

As you can see in this photo of open pit mining operations in Utah, the search for gold leaves no stone - or tree, or mountain, or life – unturned. The process involves quite literally removing the present landscape and running the rock through a leaching process where gallons of water and cyanide are used to separate the gold flecks. In fact, a small mining project consumes more than 104 liters of water per second which is 7,400 gallons of water per day and 2,701,000 gallons each year. How many families’ water consumption needs could be provided for with the amount of water that a company would consume in just one day?

But the communities know that their treasure does not lie in the power of these companies. They know that the temporary menial labor that mining may bring would be fleeting. The companies would amass an earthly treasure and make off with their profit, leaving little for El Salvador and less for the communities that they would destroy.

So, the communities of Chalatenango, Northern San Salvador and La Libertad, have taken up Romero’s legacy to challenge the repressive threat of gold mining in their regions. In an impressive show of strength, thousands of participants made a three-day journey on foot from the regions to the capital, picking up more supporters along the way.  On the morning of Monday, July 24, the march arrived at the door of the Ministry of Economy to deliver its demands that further exploitation projects be denied, and that the exploratory projects currently underway be terminated immediately. In another march this fall, participants carried an image of the “Virgin of Resistance” to the top of a mountain marked for mining. Their resistance may just pay off, currently; the National Coalition Against Mining is supporting a bill in the Salvadoran Legislature that would prohibit metallic mineral mining in El Salvador. Many North American friends of SHARE have supported efforts to encourage the Salvadoran Legislature seriously consider that bill in recent weeks.

One thing that is important to remember is that these companies would never go to these lengths to get their hands on the gold if our society did not provide an ample market for their wares. Romero reminded us to reflect on a vision of austerity as it is reflected in the poor. Yet we continue to dig for false treasures of possessions and pride. We follow what Romero called the idol of self. Let this, the 27 th Anniversary of his death be an opportunity to dig deeper for the treasure that we have buried inside.

We find our true treasure in the common spirit we share with our brothers and sisters in El Salvador. That is the treasure that it seems we are encouraged to hold onto. Let us join together to seek a common dream that we can all cherish; a dream that includes sustainable development, participation of all, and recognition of the divine and the Romero buried deep within us all.

Every year in March, SHARE will sponsor a Romero Justice Week in which people throughout the country host small gatherings to reflect upon the legacy of Romero in light of recent events. The theme of this year’s commemorations will be “Building Peace in a Post-War Society: Global Lessons from El Salvador”. Please access our packet for these events online and please consider hosting an event this year or in years to come that will give you and your friends a chance to remember where your real treasure lies. Thank you so much for your support as we work to strengthen this hope.

In Solidarity,

Elly Jordan