Of legal insurrection
President Nayib Bukele: “God has placed a huge treasure under our feet.”
Posted by Leslie Eastman
Back in 2017, El Salvador became the first country in the world to commit economic suicide by prohibiting the potential development and use of its national resources.
Under the leadership of President Nayib Bukele, the country is now trying to reverse course.
The move by Bukele's predecessor, former leftist rebel Salvador Sanchez Ceren, reflected growing opposition to mining among rural communities in Central America that are suffering from the industry's negative health and environmental impacts.
Both Costa Rica and Honduras have banned open-pit mining and Panama declared a moratorium on new mining concessions last year after mass protests against plans for a massive copper mine.
According to Bukele, El Salvador may have unmined gold reserves worth an estimated $3 trillion, equivalent to about 8,800% of the country's current GDP.
In a series of posts on social media platform X, Bukele predicted that the country may have “the largest gold deposits per square kilometer in the world.”
According to preliminary studies cited by the president, El Salvador's gold reserves could be worth a staggering $3 trillion – equivalent to over 8,800% of the country's current GDP. Bukele argues that mining just 4% of the country's gold reserves could generate $131 billion, equivalent to 380% of current GDP.
Translation: GOD HAS PUT US A GIGANTIC TREASURE UNDER OUR FEET: El Salvador may have the highest density of gold deposits per km² in the world. Located in the Pacific Ring of Fire, one of the most mineral-rich areas due to its volcanic activity.
But it's not just gold that's important. Studies have identified the presence of a variety of critical metals and rare earth minerals: cobalt, lithium, nickel, platinum, iridium, titanium and germanium.
The good news: He has the votes to repeal the senseless law.
On December 1, Bukele announced that in addition to gold deposits, El Salvador's territory is home to “metals of the fourth and fifth industrial revolutions,” EFE news agency reported. The president explained that studies identified cobalt, lithium, nickel and “rare earths used in advanced electronics,” as well as platinum, iridium, tantalum, titanium, gallium and germanium, among others.
The president's liberal, populist and reformist party, Nuevas Ideas, has the necessary votes to lift the mining ban at any time.
“We must use our natural resources responsibly, like every country in the world does,” Bukele said. Citing examples such as Qatar, Israel, Canada and Switzerland, he reiterated that “there is not a single country that has done something as stupid as banning mining.”
Many reports mention gallium, a rare metal with a broader range of applications in electronics. The highlight, however, is that the metal is also needed for thin-film solar cells, wind turbine generators and power converters for electric cars.
In other words, gallium is crucial for green energy, a fact clearly underestimated by eco-activists unhappy with this potential policy shift.
The timing of these discoveries and policy reversals couldn't be better. With China now banning the import of rare earth metals into this country, it would be wonderful to expand our supply chain.
Of course the environmental activists are dissatisfied:
This week, Bukele toughened his proposal and his critics quickly responded. They fear that resuming mining could contaminate water sources, especially given the amount of fresh water required for mining and the risks posed by the heavy metals used in it.
“The president claims that 'responsible mining' is possible, but there is no evidence to support this claim,” Pedro Cabezas, a member of the Central American Alliance against Mining (ACAFREMIN), told Newsweek. “There is no example of 'responsible mining' that has not had serious impacts. The impact in El Salvador would be terrible,” he warned.
But Bukele argues persuasively that a richer country is also a cleaner country.
“I understand the concern. In El Salvador, 95% of the water bodies are polluted. Imagine if we polluted them even further; In the end we will have a contamination of 97 to 98%. The reality is that when 95% of the rivers are polluted, one should not focus on saving the remaining 5%, but rather focus on restoring the lost 95%,” Bukele argued on Thursday. “If we had 95% of our rivers clean, we could focus on maintaining the status quo.”
“The only thing we can do is invest billions of dollars to clean up the polluted waters. And to have these billions, we need resources that can be easily obtained through mining,” he added, according to Diario El Salvador.
I think Trump should make sure Bukele gets a front row seat at his inauguration.
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