Looming threats to the mining prohibition in El Salvador
- Details
- Published: Thursday, 08 February 2018 01:07
P. Cabezas
In March 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban metallic mining. But the huge victory of the antimining movement and the international recognition it has garnered may be overshadowed by a current electoral campaign that threatens to reverse the legislative balance of power in favor of the prohibition in the short term, and the executive government´s in the mid-term.
At a recent event organized by the National Roundtable Against Mining to commemorate those who lost their lives in Cabañas during the struggle, leaders from communities that were most affected by mining projects said that some political battles are still pending to ensure the long-term sustainability of the mining prohibition. “First we need to ensure that the Attorney General’s office investigate the intellectual authors of the murders of environmental defenders who were assassinated in 2009, second we need to ensure that Minerales Torogoz, and the El Dorado Foundation leave Cabañas, and third we need our government institutions to generate sustainable economic activities in the region so those toxic companies never come back” Said Domingo Miranda, president of the La Maraña Environmental Association.
In the midst of an important victory in El Salvador, an evaluation of the social and environmental conditions in the country contrasts to the achievements obtained with the prohibition of mining.
