Mining always has an impact on the population. Because of this, several protests have occurred in El Salvador, from ancient and environmentalist populations to academic sectors and even the country’s church. They claim that gold cannot be worth more than life and water.
Luis Beatón
President Nayib Bukele’s proposition to restart metal mining is today uniting a wide range of sectors in El Salvador who are hoping to reverse these plans.
The president of the Salvadoran Centre for Appropriate Technology (Cesta), Ricardo Navarro, confirmed that if allowed, it would leave El Salvador destroyed, polluted and without water.
“Implementing mining would be a coup de grace. Green mining is a total lie; the only green thing is the colour of the dollars. The money goes to the owners of the technology and they will leave the rest of us with bad taxes”, he said during an interview with Diálogo 21. Corroborating geological studies that this country has one of the greatest densities of gold deposits per kilometre squared on a global scale, due to its volcanic origins, Salvadorans face the dilemma of having gold or having water, since the water, already contaminated, would be the first victim.
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According to the official message, with barely 4% of the areas with mining potential explored, it was found that there are about 50 million ounces of gold, with an estimated value of more than $131,565 million, equivalent to almost four times the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
In 2017, the Legislative Assembly passed the prohibition of mining in the country which, according to various tests, brought trouble, death and pollution.
Specialists explain that the gold is inside the rocks and in order to get it out, the rock must be bombarded with dynamite, crushed and poisoned, whether with cyanide, arsenic, lead, copper or something else, with a great expenditure of water that contaminates what little remains of the water. According to the main director of Cesta, to extract a gram of gold, between 1.5 and three cubic meters of water are needed, something that he identifies as a death signal.
There are countless protests and analyses against the government’s idea, which has been defended until now by Bukele and a legislature dominated by and with an absolute majority from the Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) party.
Among other opponents, the Ancestral Council of the Municipalities of the Indigenous Territories (Cacti) and Luis González, a member of the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining, stand out.
Bukele says that there will be net profits of billions of dollars and jobs, and that they would do responsible mining, but, says González, “responsible mining, green mining, sustainable mining is just an advertising slogan.” PL
(Translated by Donna Davison – Email: donna_davison@hotmail.com) – Photos: Pixabay
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