In a win for Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has dubbed himself “the world’s coolest dictator,” the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on Monday overturned the Central American country’s 2017 ban on metal mining.

Bukele has fought to reverse the historic ban since taking office in 2019. Despite a prohibition in the Salvadoran Constitution, he ran for and won a second term in February, after his Nueva Ideas (New Ideas) party purged the judiciary.

Reporting on Monday’s mining reversal, the Financial Times noted that “Bukele’s party and its allies hold 57 of 60 seats in the legislature, and all 57 voted to overturn the ban while giving the Salvadoran government sole authority over mining activities.”

As the British newspaper detailed:

• He has claimed that El Salvador sits on gold reserves potentially worth $3 trillion, citing an undisclosed study, although that has been treated with skepticism by experts.
• There has been limited exploration in El Salvador. El Dorado, the most advanced of more than two dozen exploration projects prior to the ban, was once estimated to hold 1.4 million ounces of gold, which would be worth roughly $3.6 billion today, without considering production expenses.
• El Salvador’s gold belt runs across its northern provinces and the watershed of the Lempa River, which is the small and densely populated country’s main source of water. 

In a statement earlier this month, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) warned that “El Salvador’s 2017 prohibition against metallic mining is a widely popular measure and overturning it would be a death sentence for the small and densely populated country with its scarce water sources, many of which are already contaminated.”

“The historic ban, passed in a unanimous 70-0 vote by El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly in 2017, was the result of a decadelong campaign to value life over transnational mining corporations’ pursuit of profits,” IPS explained. “The campaign was ultimately supported by a wide coalition of civil society organizations, educational institutions, some business sectors, legislators and ministers from across the political spectrum, as well as two archbishops. They were all persuaded by substantial evidence of gold mining’s destructive effects, and the deleterious impacts of cyanide used in gold mining.”

“The struggle also cost the lives of several beloved water defender activists who stood up to the mining companies in Cabañas: Marcelo Rivera, Ramiro Rivera, student Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, and Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto, who was eight months pregnant when murdered, and whose 2-year-old child witnessed and was wounded in the attack,” the group added.

In a win for Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, who has dubbed himself “the world’s coolest dictator,” the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador on Monday overturned the Central American country’s 2017 ban on metal mining.

Bukele has fought to reverse the historic ban since taking office in 2019. Despite a prohibition in the Salvadoran Constitution, he ran for and won a second term in February, after his Nueva Ideas (New Ideas) party purged the judiciary.

Reporting on Monday’s mining reversal, the Financial Timesnoted that “Bukele’s party and its allies hold 57 of 60 seats in the legislature, and all 57 voted to overturn the ban while giving the Salvadoran government sole authority over mining activities.”

As the British newspaper detailed:

• He has claimed that El Salvador sits on gold reserves potentially worth $3 trillion, citing an undisclosed study, although that has been treated with skepticism by experts.

• There has been limited exploration in El Salvador. El Dorado, the most advanced of more than two dozen exploration projects prior to the ban, was once estimated to hold 1.4 million ounces of gold, which would be worth roughly $3.6 billion today, without considering production expenses.

• El Salvador’s gold belt runs across its northern provinces and the watershed of the Lempa River, which is the small and densely populated country’s main source of water. 

In a statement earlier this month, the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) warned that “El Salvador’s 2017 prohibition against metallic mining is a widely popular measure and overturning it would be a death sentence for the small and densely populated country with its scarce water sources, many of which are already contaminated.”

“The historic ban, passed in a unanimous 70-0 vote by El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly in 2017, was the result of a decadelong campaign to value life over transnational mining corporations’ pursuit of profits,” IPS explained. “The campaign was ultimately supported by a wide coalition of civil society organizations, educational institutions, some business sectors, legislators and ministers from across the political spectrum, as well as two archbishops. They were all persuaded by substantial evidence of gold mining’s destructive effects, and the deleterious impacts of cyanide used in gold mining.”

“The struggle also cost the lives of several beloved water defender activists who stood up to the mining companies in Cabañas: Marcelo Rivera, Ramiro Rivera, student Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, and Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto, who was eight months pregnant when murdered, and whose 2-year-old child witnessed and was wounded in the attack,” the group added.

The IPS statement came in response to a November 26 ruling that ordered a retrial for the Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta (ADES) “Santa Marta Five” water defenders—Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Teodoro Antonio Pacheco, and Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega—a development the group denounced.

ADES forcefully condemned the mining ban reversal on social media Monday, calling it “the biggest attack on water, health, and life in El Salvador,” and pointing to “opposition from churches, universities, social organizations, and the majority of the population.”

The Salvadoran group also shared images of opponents who gathered outside the Legislative Assembly on Monday.

Luis Gonzalez, one of the environmentalists outside the building, told Reuters, “We oppose metals mining because it has been technically and scientifically proven that mining is not viable in the country.”

Commond Dreams: https://www.commondreams.org/news/el-salvador-mining-ban

“Una condena de muerte”: Asamblea Legislativa revoca la prohibición de la minería metálica en El Salvador

En una victoria para el presidente salvadoreño Nayib Bukele, quien se ha autodenominado “el dictador más cool del mundo”, la Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador revocó este lunes la prohibición de 2017 sobre la minería metálica en el país centroamericano.

Bukele ha luchado por revertir esta histórica prohibición desde que asumió el cargo en 2019. A pesar de la prohibición establecida en la Constitución salvadoreña, se postuló y ganó un segundo mandato en febrero, luego de que su partido Nuevas Ideas purgara el sistema judicial.

Informando sobre la revocación de la minería el lunes, el Financial Times señaló que “el partido de Bukele y sus aliados tienen 57 de los 60 escaños en la Asamblea Legislativa, y los 57 votaron para derogar la prohibición mientras otorgaban al gobierno salvadoreño la autoridad exclusiva sobre las actividades mineras”.

Como detalló el periódico británico:

• “Ha afirmado que El Salvador posee reservas de oro potencialmente valoradas en 3 billones de dólares, citando un estudio no revelado, aunque eso ha sido tratado con escepticismo por expertos.

• Ha habido exploración limitada en El Salvador. El Dorado, el proyecto de exploración más avanzado de más de dos docenas antes de la prohibición, se estimó una vez que contenía 1,4 millones de onzas de oro, cuyo valor sería aproximadamente 3.6 mil millones de dólares hoy, sin considerar los gastos de producción.

• El cinturón de oro de El Salvador atraviesa sus provincias del norte y la cuenca del río Lempa, que es la principal fuente de agua del pequeño y densamente poblado país”.

En un comunicado a principios de este mes, el Instituto de Estudios Políticos (Institute for Policy Studies – IPS) con sede en Washington, D.C., advirtió que “la prohibición de 2017 contra la minería metálica en El Salvador es una medida ampliamente popular, y revocarla sería una sentencia de muerte para el pequeño y densamente poblado país con sus escasas fuentes de agua, muchas de las cuales ya están contaminadas”.

“La prohibición histórica, aprobada mediante un voto unánime de 70-0 en la Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador en 2017, fue el resultado de una campaña de diez años para valorar la vida sobre la búsqueda de ganancias de las corporaciones mineras transnacionales”, explicó el IPS. “La campaña fue apoyada por una amplia coalición de organizaciones de la sociedad civil, instituciones educativas, algunos sectores empresariales, legisladores y ministros de todo el espectro político, así como dos arzobispos. Todos fueron persuadidos por evidencia sustancial de los efectos destructivos de la minería de oro y los impactos nocivos del cianuro utilizado en la minería de oro”.

“Esta lucha también costó la vida de varios queridos activistas defensores del agua que enfrentaron a las empresas mineras en Cabañas: Marcelo Rivera, Ramiro Rivera, el estudiante Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, y Dora Alicia Recinos Sorto, quien tenía ocho meses de embarazo cuando fue asesinada, y cuyo hijo de 2 años fue testigo y resultó herido en el ataque”, agregó el grupo.

El comunicado del IPS vino como respuesta a un fallo del 26 de noviembre que ordenó un nuevo juicio para los cinco defensores del agua de la Asociación de Desarrollo Económico y Social de Santa Marta (Economic and Social Development Association of Santa Marta – ADES), conocidos como los “Cinco de Santa Marta”—Miguel Ángel Gámez, Alejandro Laínez García, Pedro Antonio Rivas Laínez, Teodoro Antonio Pacheco y Saúl Agustín Rivas Ortega—un desarrollo que el grupo denunció.

ADES condenó enérgicamente la revocación de la prohibición minera en redes sociales el lunes, calificándola como “el mayor ataque al agua, la salud y la vida en El Salvador”, y señalando “la oposición de iglesias, universidades, organizaciones sociales y la mayoría de la población”.

El grupo salvadoreño también compartió imágenes de los opositores que se reunieron frente a la Asamblea Legislativa el lunes.

Luis González, uno de los ambientalistas presentes afuera del edificio, dijo a Reuters: “Nos oponemos a la minería de metales porque se ha demostrado técnica y científicamente que la minería no es viable en el país”.

Commond Dreams: https://www.commondreams.org/news/el-salvador-mining-ban