El Salvador's mining ban
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| Honestly, I think this one is form Guatemala |
For some time now, U.S. and Canadian mining companies have been seeking out new mining sites in Latin America and elsewhere in the developing world. This is partly because high-grade ores that are easily accessible in the U.S. and Canada are in the process of being used up. It is also due to expensive litigation and mitigation costs that mining companies must undertake in developed countries. Not long ago, Salvadorans welcomed foreign owned mining companies into their country. Yet for the last several years, metal mining has been banned in El Salvador by presidential decree and citizen groups are now working to enact a permanent nationwide ban on such undertaking.When I spoke with some people in El Salvador in July, they questioned the country's commitment to protecting the environment. They get ARENA and the FMLN's concerns with mining, but if they were really concerned about the environment and protecting the country's water supplies, why weren't they moving to protect them in other areas as well? They have a specific concern within mining in this case but not a general concern with environmental issues in general. I'm not sure that's entirely fair.
The FMLN and El Salvador could obviously do more to protect the environment and the country's water supply outside of the mining issue. However, mining is one of the most dangerous to El Salvador's environment. There's been public mobilization against the issue which has also led the government to respond. You would expect the government to respond to citizen demands like this one.
But there's also deep concern with protecting the environment along the coast, including in areas that might be adversely affected by the second Millennium Challenge Corporation Compact (search Jiquilisco Bay). How that money is spent along the coast is largely a decision made by the Salvadoran government. Let's see what they decide.
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