Christian Romero Initiative and Stop Mad Mining invite Bernardo Belloso from CRIPDES to Europe

Von Svenja Riebow: Amerika21  - Translation: Marina Bonetti

bernieFrom September 30th to October 15th, Bernardo Belloso, president of the Association for Development travelled on a speaking tour through Germany, Slovakia and Romania to report on the social resistance against gold mining in El Salvador, to participate in public events, lobby meetings with elected politicians, civil society organizations and press conferences.  Mr. Belloso also travelled to Bratislava (Slovakia), for a speaking engagement at the International Conference on Responsible Mining (October 6th-7th) where he spoke about the experiences of CRIPDES, along with civil society organizations in El Salvador,  have waged against mining companies. Finally Mr. Belloso travelled to Romania to meet with representatives of the resistance against gold mining in Rosia Montana. As El Salvador, Romania has been sued by a Canadian mining corporation because it was refused a mining licence.

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Arcatao Community Consultation

Consultations, or municipal referendums in which the voting population asserts their preference on the issue. The first three Consultations took place in 2014 in San Jose Las Flores, San Isidro Labrador, and Nueva Trinidad in the northern department of Chalatenango, and now the fourth Consultation will take place in the municipality of Arcatao on November 8th.

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Arcatao: the next municipality to hold a referendum on mining in El Salvador

Photos/translation: Marina Bonetti 

Citizens of the communities of Cicachuite, Cerro Grande, Teosinte, Chavarria, El Sitio, Los Rivera, Los Guardado, El Portillo, Los Alas, Los Orellana, Los Merino, El Pepeto, Gualsimaca, Las Vegas, and the town itself, all belonging to the Municipality of Arcatao, in the Department of Chalatenango, presented a package of signatures collected in their communities in order to ask the Municipal Council for the call of a public referendum that could declare this Municipality a “Mining-Free Territory”.

arcataoSix years after the implementation of an administrative freeze on processes related to mining by the Salvadoran Government, social organizations opposed to the mining industry are intensifying their national campaign to demand a permanent ban on mining activities.

Faced with the failure of the Legislative Assembly to apply a definitive ban at the national level, social organizations such as CRIPDES, CORDES, CCR, members of the Mesa Nacional Frente a la Mineria Metàlica (National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining) based in the department of Chalatenango, are leading a campaign for public referenda. These are intended to determine whether communities agree with the establishment of mineral extraction projects in their territory.

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IUDOP: 77% of the Salvadorean population asks for metal mining to be prohibited

Joakin Salazar - Colatino

"Total disagreement with metal mining" is the result of the poll conducted by the University Institute of Public Opinion (IUDOP) of the Central American University, Jose Simeon Cañas (UCA), which states that 77% of population believe that the Salvadoran State should permanently prohibit mining in El Salvador.


Download survey (in Spanish) here


The survey "Opinions and Perceptions toward Metallic Mining in El Salvador", seeks to give a voice to people who live in the 23 municipalities of the country where permits have been for the exploration for metallic mining have been extended.

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