Mining is on offensive again in Central America

Salvadoran mining opponents called unsuccessfully on lawmakers in December to reject a Bukele administration bill to repeal the country’s mining ban. (Photo courtesy of National Board against Metals Mining in El Salvador)

After dissipating in recent years, pro-mining pressure in Central America has mushroomed, drawing complaints from rural communities and green advocates that a surge of extractive projects will harm natural resources and human health. Various governments across the region aim to attract mining investment—in some cases in countries that had curtailed extractive activity in the face of a powerful public backlash against the industry. That opposition, comprising broad civil-society coalitions that include the Catholic Church, finds itself on the defensive as the mining restrictions it worked for years to get enacted in several countries are suddenly under threat. High government debt and anemic growth help explain why mining is drawing such keen interest, even from countries that had spurned it. According to the World Bank, Central American growth last year was the slowest of all world regions. But many critics of the industry blame developed nations, too, asserting... Read more →