Bukele says it is “absurd” that mining is prohibited in El Salvador

President Nayib Bukele declared for the first time in favor of metal mining, prohibited in El Salvador since 2017.

“We are the only country in the world with a total ban on mining, something that no other country applies. Absurd!”, he said on his X accountafter ensuring that El Salvador has the gold deposits with the highest density per square kilometer in the world.

Citing studies, the president shared a map of the Pacific Ring of Fire, where El Salvador, along with other countries, is seen in an area rich in mineral resources due to its volcanic activity.

“Studies carried out in only 4% of the potential area identified 50 million ounces of gold, valued today at $131,565 million. This is equivalent to 380% of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of El Salvador,” added the president.

According to Bukele, the discovery translates into “wealth” for the country, something that can create “thousands of quality jobs, finance infrastructure, promote the development of local economies and all with modern and sustainable mining.”

The president’s position comes a day after The VanEck Company revealed that El Salvador seeks to reverse the ban on gold mining.

According to VanEck, Bukele invited his geologists to investigate the areas where gold extraction can begin.

Seven years of prohibition

In 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to ban the mining of all its metals, including exploration activities.

This milestone was achieved with the impetus of a network of communities in the north of El Salvador that not only organized marches but also brought law proposals to Congress to accelerate the total ban on mining.

That community was recently hit by the capture of several of its leaders in the midst of an emergency regime in force since March 2022, with which a military siege was imposed in Cabañas, one of the departments known for its activism against mining.

The leaders, known as “The Santa Marta 5,” were imprisoned for almost two years after being linked to a crime that occurred during the armed conflict that devastated the Central American country between 1979 and 1992.

But social organizations and activists considered that the arrest of the leaders in January 2023, with Nayib Bukele already in the presidency, was persecution for their activism against mining.

Although they were acquitted by a judge at the end of October, on November 26, one day before Bukele’s stance in favor of mining, a court annulled the ruling that released the activists.

The Bukele government has not responded to allegations from national and international human rights organizations about the possible criminalization of environmentalists for their anti-mining activism.

Bukele’s recent announcement is part of the series of events that have occurred in recent years around mining.

In October 2021, the Salvadoran Congress with a pro-government majority approved the project of the General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines for “the review and update of Mining and its regulations.”

Additionally, that same year El Salvador became a member of the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Sustainable Development (IGF), an entity that supports countries committed to the exploitation of mining to ensure that this activity ” support its sustainable development goals.

El Salvador is the most indebted country in Central America with 87% of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) compromised. In his inauguration speech on June 1, Bukele said that boosting the economy would be his next step.

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