President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele gestures during his speech at the closing ceremony of the Latin Bitcoin conference (LaBitConf) at Mizata Beach, El Salvador, on Nov. 20, 2021.
President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele gestures during his speech at the closing ceremony of the Latin Bitcoin conference (LaBitConf) at Mizata Beach, El Salvador, on Nov. 20, 2021.
MARVIN RECINOS/AFP via Getty Images
As one of the most popular leaders in the world, Bukele was reelected earlier this year with overwhelming support. His party holds a commanding majority in El Salvador’s Congress and with his opponents politically weakened, there’s little standing in the way of his mining agenda.
“When Bukele won a congressional supermajority that allowed him to bypass many democratic checks and balances, a major concern was that he would eventually start making unpopular decisions, and those opposing them would have little or no recourse,” Adam Isacson, director of the Washington Office on Latin America’s (WOLA) Defense Oversight program, told Newsweek.
“A rush back into gold mining, at the expense of communities living atop the gold deposits, would be a prime example of that,” he added.
Signs of a possible resumption of mining activity first emerged in October 2022 with the creation of the General Directorate of Energy, Hydrocarbons, and Mines within the Salvadoran government. Environmental concerns deepened when El Salvador joined the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals, and Sustainable Development (IGF), a global association of countries addressing mining issues.
For a nation that was the first to ban all metallic mining operations, joining such a forum struck many as an unusual move that preceded a national pivot on the issue.
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Publish date : 2024-12-10 10:44:00
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