Salvadorans Use Their Complex History to Fight Mining
This March, the authors, students at Laurel School in Ohio, visited El Salvador as members of a school delegation led by International Partners In Mission (IPM).
Emerging on the street of Avenida Cuscatlan in the public square, a mile-long line of protesters marched, testifying their human right to access water. The General Law on Metallic Mining, passed on December 23, 2024, overturned the 2017 unanimous decision that banned all metal mining to restore the water systems' cleanliness for the Salvadorian people. This policy doesn’t just bring back mining in the rivers like the San Sebastián River, a major habitat for fish and sources of nutrition for the population, but also “omits environmental impact assessments, lacks transparent information on mining activities, and does not require consultation and consent of the communities that will be impacted.”
This makes El Salvador more susceptible to environmental degradation. However, due to the negative effects that mining generates, the majority of Salvadorian people do not agree with this legislation. According to a poll released before the December 23 reversal of the mining ban by the University of Central America in the capital of El Salvador, “61 percent of Salvadorans oppose a return to mining.”
An article published by Reuters explains that 90% of El Salvador’s rivers are polluted by industries such as the chemical industry, the agricultural industry, and the wastewater industry. This both burdens the communities in the surrounding areas and jeopardizes access to water for the entire population. The best example of the grave effects of this pollution is the Lempa River.
Right now, the Lempa serves as the source of water for over half of the El Salvadorian population and is connected to a plethora of waterways that run into smaller, more remote areas. But because it yields so many connections to waterways, the pollution of one leg of the Lempa puts the entire river at risk of contamination. Water contamination upsets farms that are no longer able to produce due to the lack of vegetation. Furthermore, the lack of clean, safe, drinking water forces communities to devote themselves to intense rationing and storage practices.
The fear and frustration of citizens is a testament to the years of relentless barriers they’ve had to deal with, especially in maintaining their democracy when their governors aren’t representative enough of the populace. Whether a farmer, a mother, or the owner of a cooperative, everyone will be affected by the newly established legislation; it’s only a matter of time before the effects pour out and cause unpreventable harm.
In response, people are still rallying for their rights and humanity through various demonstrations all across the country. We observed one such protest at Plaza Barrios, also known as the Civic Plaza, on March 24, 2025.
The day symbolized a legacy of struggle, not only in the environmental rights movement but the social justice movement as well. The protest intentionally occurred on the 45th anniversary of St. Óscar Romero’s death. Over the past few decades, this date has brought activists together to fight for intersectional justice as a testament to Romero’s will.
As denoted by his saintly designation, Óscar Romero led a life of service. As Kathleen Manning of U.S. Catholic reports, “He traveled great distances along narrow and dangerous roads to say Mass and offer villagers the sacraments in remote parts of El Salvador. He arranged medical care for people who lacked the resources to get it themselves, especially the elderly. When he learned that migrant coffee harvesters often did not have places to sleep and were spending nights on the ground in the public square, Romero housed them in church buildings.”
Throughout the years, Romero has become the face for all fronts of the fight for justice, so much so that, as The Social Justice Resource Center notes, “In 2010, the United Nations General Assembly proclaimed 24 March as the ‘International Day for the Right to the Truth Concerning Gross Human Rights Violations and for the Dignity of Victims’ in recognition of the role of Archbishop Romero in defense of human rights.”
The coalescence of rights and religion materialized on that same date this year. Protests flowed through the veins of San Salvador, culminating on the steps of the newly built library. Although the exact messages expressed by protestors varied, the theme of anti-mining rose above the others. As they moved through the streets, citizens chanted “No a la minería, sí a la vida,” or “No to the mining, yes to life” repeatedly.
Human rights and anti-mining protest on the 45th anniversary of Romero’s death. Photo Courtesy of Laurel School faculty member Lauren Calig.
On this day, the people of El Salvador called for justice. They called on the government to uphold their rights to freedom, health, and safety. Although it was a monumental day for the Church and society alike, it was but a step on the long and winding path to justice. This demonstration was solely the tip of the iceberg for all of the work that the community organizations, the coalitions of different cities, and international awareness have done to unite the fight against oppressive forces, both ecologically and socially.
