- Lawmakers in El Salvador recently voted to reintroduce industrial mining in the country, ending a 2017 landmark ban that has protected freshwater and public health.
- President Nayib Bukele has advocated for the return of mining despite the unpopularity of the industry in El Salvador, arguing that it will bring in billions of dollars and create thousands of jobs.
- The government will have at least 51% control over every mining project while also being in charge of oversight, causing concern from environmentalists that it will be hard to challenge projects that aren’t being carried out responsibly.
Lawmakers in El Salvador have voted to reintroduce industrial mining in the country, ending a landmark ban that was meant to protect freshwater and public health.
The law, pushed through just days before the end of 2024, gives the government control over the country’s massive gold reserves, which have gone untouched since 2017 due to a nationwide ban on extractives.
For many conservationists, this marks a major step backwards in the fight to protect El Salvador’s fragile ecosystems.
“It’s an absolutely disastrous decision,” said Luis González, advocacy director for the Salvadoran Ecological Unit, an environmental NGO. “[The mining ban] was established after years of struggle, but also because it was technically and scientifically proven that mining is an unviable activity in Salvadoran territory due to the environmental, water and population conditions.”
The law received 57 votes in favor and three against, passing just days before the end of the 2024 legislative session despite polls showing that mining is deeply unpopular in the country. Around 60% of Salvadorans think the country is unsuitable for mining and over 78% believe living near a mine to be “very dangerous,” according to one survey.
Mining creates a new revenue stream for the government, which has been looking to show the IMF and other international backers that the country is economically stable enough to pay back loans.
Preliminary studies of a small area of the country found approximately 50 million ounces of gold worth over $1.3 billion. Mining it could also create thousands of jobs and finance new infrastructure projects, President Nayib Bukele said in an X thread.
“We are the ONLY country in the world with a total ban on metal mining, something that no other country applies,” Bukele said in the thread. “Absurd! This wealth, given by God, can be harnessed responsibly to bring unprecedented economic and social development to our people.”
The government has the option of working with foreign companies to carry out the mining projects but will retain a majority stake while also being in charge of oversight. Critics say so much government control will make it hard to challenge projects encroaching on wildlife, freshwater sources and local communities suffering negative health impacts.
Officials who voted for the law argue that government control is designed to prevent private industry from taking advantage of El Salvador’s natural resources. The country has one major watershed, the Lempa River, that provides over 60% of the country’s freshwater. Cyanide and other chemicals commonly used in mining could lead to a water crisis if not dealt with properly.
“As a country, we don’t want to repeat the mistakes of the past, where these types of activities are left to the discretion of companies that seek profit and don’t care about the wellbeing of the people,” Deputy Elisa Rosales said in a legislative press release.
The General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines didn’t respond to Mongabay’s request for comment.
Resistance to mining
Activists have been concerned for years that Bukele would reverse the mining ban.
In 2021, he created the General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines and joined the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development, a group that helps countries meet their sustainable mining goals.
Last year, residents in the department of Cabañas said they’d been visited by foreigners interested in buying land. The area underwent mining exploration during the early 2000s but never broke ground.
Five anti-mining activists, known in the country as “water defenders,” were arrested in 2023 — a case that outside observers have called politically motivated due to the defenders’ leading role in getting the 2017 mining ban passed.
The defenders were also part of a resistance group during the country’s civil war, allegedly participating in a kidnapping and murder in 1989. They were found innocent last October but will face a retrial following an appeal by the Attorney General.
“They find this case that’s super weak, and in the end, that has sort of fallen apart. No evidence, no anything,” said John Cavanagh, senior advisor at the Institute for Policy Studies, who noted that the case could be meant to silence and intimidate future anti-mining campaigns.
Bukele is one of the most popular presidents in the world, with an approval rating of around 90%. He’s eradicated gang violence and brought in foreign investment. But the unpopularity of mining may pose new political challenges for him, Cavanagh said. Unlike in neighboring Guatemala and Honduras, mining isn’t accepted as the norm by agribusiness, tourism and other sectors that would be affected by pollution.
The Catholic Church was one of the most outspoken groups when mining was banned in 2017. Ahead of the vote on the new law, the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador published a statement expressing concern about the return of mining, saying that it was in favor of economic development but not at the expense of people’s health. Cavanagh said the church could start organizing educational campaigns against mining.
Other observers said they expect communities with known gold deposits, including in Cabañas and Chalatenango, to fight back against development once it starts.
“We have to continue resisting an activity that is detrimental to the environment, to water, to the health of the population,” González said. “It’s truly regrettable, because this will further damage an ecosystem that is already damaged, already mistreated, already degraded, which will undoubtedly generate disasters in the medium and long term.”
Banner image: Protesters outside of the legislative assembly. Photo courtesy of Cripdes.
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