Bukele: It is "absurd!" that El Salvador bans mining
The president of El Salvador spoke out against the ban on metal mining for gold extraction, established since 2017 in the Central American country.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said on Wednesday (27.11.2024) that it is "absurd!" that metal mining is banned in the Central American country and that the exploitation of natural gold reserves could generate "unprecedented economic and social development."
"We are the only country in the world with a total ban on metal mining, something that no other country applies. Absurd!" Bukele posted on X (formerly Twitter). According to the president, "El Salvador potentially has the highest density gold deposits per square kilometer in the world.
Estudios realizados en solo el 4% del área potencial identificaron 50 millones de onzas de oro, valoradas hoy en $131,565 millones.
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) November 27, 2024
Esto equivale al 380% del PIB de El Salvador.
El potencial total podría superar los $3 billones, más del 8,800% de nuestro Producto Interno Bruto. pic.twitter.com/ZofNwo6vcd
"Studies carried out in only 4% of the potential area identified 50 million ounces of gold, valued today at $131,565 million (dollars). This is equivalent to 380% of El Salvador's GDP," Bukele added. The president argued that "this wealth, given by God, can be used responsibly to bring unprecedented economic and social development to our people."
Somos el ÚNICO país en el mundo con una prohibición total de la minería metálica, algo que ningún otro país aplica. ¡Absurdo!
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) November 27, 2024
Esta riqueza, dada por Dios, puede ser aprovechada de manera responsable para llevar un desarrollo económico y social sin precedentes a nuestro pueblo. pic.twitter.com/HjDIJSPo25
Environmental groups have repeatedly denounced that the Bukele administration intends to reverse the ban on metal mining approved by Congress in 2017, which would have even led to the "criminalization" of environmentalists.
The Santa Marta Economic and Social Development Association (ADES) and the Santa Marta community, in the Salvadoran department of Cabañas (north), denounced at the beginning of October that a criminal process against five of its leaders is part of a persecution for denouncing warnings of a reversal in the mining ban.
The community warns that - among the signs it observes of the possible reversal of the ban on metal mining - are the incorporation of El Salvador into the Intergovernmental Panel on Mining (2021) and the approval of a new Law of the Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons and Mines (2021). In addition, a budget of 4.5 million dollars to "review and update the law that prohibits metal mining" and "the presence of representatives of mining companies in the country."
Los fines extractivos que evidencia, solo dañarían nuestro medio ambiente y acabarían con nuestro recurso hídrico, ya tan escaso.
— ADES Santa Marta (@ades_sm) November 27, 2024
Debemos denunciar y exigir que se respete la ley y no se permita que empresas mineras destruyan nuestro territorio y la vida de nuestras comunidades.
In March 2017, the Salvadoran Congress approved a law banning metal mining, considering it "a threat to the development and well-being of families." The Metal Mining Prohibition Law bans mining in "the soil and bio-subsoil of the territory" of El Salvador, and includes "open-air or underground exploration, exploitation and processing" activities.
