By Armando Jacinto : TVES

On February 6th, the Catholic Church presented the Legislative Assembly a legislative proposal to prohibit metal mining in El Salvador.

Next Thursday, March 9th, the Catholic Church will carry out a march to demand that the representatives of the Legislative Assembly approve the Law to Ban Metal Mining in El Salvador. 

The march will leave at 9:00AM from Bolivar Park and will lead to the Legislative Assembly, when they will also hand to the representatives the signatures that have been collected to prohibit any type of metal mining operation in Salvadoran territory. 

“We invite everyone to participate in this march to request the approval of the Law to Ban Mining, and to present the signatures that have been collected,” the Archbishop of San Salvador, Monsignor Escobar Alas, said at a press conference.

This past 6th of February the Catholic Church presented a bill to the Legislative Assembly to ban metal mining in El Salvador. With this law, said Escobar Alas, we intend to protect El Salvador from the grave threat of mining operations that would poison the water and air, seriously affecting every inhabitant of this country, principally the people in those areas.

“It is not just that in this manner they run over the dignity of these people and violate their principal rights in this way, they are poor people that do not have another place to go to live,” said Alas, where he also took advantage of the time to reiterate his message to the representatives to unanimously approve the above mentioned law.       

Following this announcement made by the Church, the FMLN representative, Guillermo Mata, posted a message on his twitter account, where he expressed that the entire population should join the march to demand the prohibition of metal mining.  

The left-wing representative also assured, on his twitter account, that the bill can count on the votes of the FMLN party. 

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Traslated by: Sebastian Rosemont

Translated from: http://inicio.tves10.com/noticias/la-iglesia-catolica-invita-a-participar-a-la-marcha-contra-la-mineria-metalica