On Sunday, the Catholic Church of El Salvador has once again called for the repeal of the law that allows mining in the country, which was promoted by President Nayib Bukele.

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Salvadorans Protest Again Demanding Ban on Metal Mining

In a statement, read at a press conference by the Archbishop of San Salvador, Luis Escobar Alas, the Church asks parliamentarians to “listen to the voice of the people and not forget that their commitment is to the people.”

“We want to ask the deputies to repeal the metallic mining law (…) The people are awaiting their response, we ask that their response be in favor of life, repealing said law,” Escobar Alas stated.

The highest representation of the Catholic Church delivered a package on March 18 with 150,000 signatures from citizens who reject mining in El Salvador and insisted on the repeal of the General Law on Metallic Mining, approved last December, as it considers that “the country would not withstand mining extraction.”

However, so far, the deputies of the Legislative Assembly, dominated by the ruling Nuevas Ideas (NI), do not have on their agenda studying the repeal of this law.

President Bukele defended mining last January despite the rejection by some sectors of society of the mining law approved to allow mining in the country, and at that time he assured that there are still “no” permits for carrying out this practice.

However, to date, the Government has not reported whether permits have already been extended for mining exploration and exploitation projects.

El Salvador maintained a ban on metal mining since 2017, but this was reversed last December by legislative initiative of President Bukele, who assured that the country possesses the gold deposits “with the highest density per km2 in the world.”

It is estimated, according to data from environmental organizations, that mining would affect around 4 million people in El Salvador, a country of 6.3 million inhabitants.

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