Join International Allies for an update on the current situation of the anti’mining struggle in El Salvador and the fight to have the Santa Marta Five water defenders exonerated from all charges.
In December 2024, the Salvadorean legislature overturned the historic metallic mining ban that protected the country´s scarce water supply from the predatory practices of multinational mining corporations. The new mining laws, open the door for the government to partner with multinational corporations to operate once again in El Salvador with minimal environmental safeguards, and protected by a president internationally recognized for persecuting political opponents and violating the human rights of thousands of people as part of his draconian security policies.
As a response, a national antimining movement composed of a wide spectrum of civil society organizations has emerged once again to remind politicians that the mining industry would exacerbate the multiple environmental challenges the country already faces; such as water scarcity, contamination, deforestation and the impacts of climate change. As the fight to protect the environment becomes the center of the political debate in El Salvador, there are concerns that political persecution will now shift to environmental defenders who are challenging the implementation of an extractive economic agenda focused on the intensification of tourism, construction, sugar cane production and the return to mining.
The continued criminalization of the Santa Marta Five water defenders, who have a court hearing on April 9, and the recent incarceration of human rights activists for providing legal advice to families fighting expropriations could be signs that more detentions are coming.
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