"‘Live sick or flee’: pollution fears for El Salvador’s rivers as mining ban lifted", 01 Jnauary 2025

...On 23 December, its congress voted to overturn the ban on metals mining, a move championed by the hardline president, Nayib Bukele, who is prioritising economic growth over environmental concerns.

The new legislation grants the government exclusive control over mining activities and prohibits the use of toxic mercury in gold extraction.

However, despite the regulations, environmentalists have promised strong opposition, citing potential irreversible damage to ecosystems and public health. Other minerals released into the environment by gold-mining include arsenic, for instance.

Cidia Cortes, an environmental biologist, says: “In the San Sebastián River, arsenic levels are 300 times higher than international safety standards. Acid drainage turns the water a poisonous red, contaminating water, air and land”...

Bukele’s pro-mining rhetoric did not come as a surprise. “We have been warning since 2021 that mining interests were preying upon El Salvador, and this was confirmed when they jailed five of our environmental leaders back in January 2023,” says Morales.

...“Since the mining ban is reversed, the country could be lining up to receive lawsuits from defeated mining corporations, as they would claim what they think is theirs,” he says...

“Mining generates a huge social and environmental impact,” he says. “Many will risk being poisoned [and] living sick or having to flee their communities because of the heavy metals used by this industry”...