Originally published at National Catholic Register
The archbishop asked for God’s light ‘to find ways to economic development without harming the life and health of our people, the Salvadoran people.’
The Catholic Church in El Salvador has asked President Nayib Bukele not to repeal the 2017 law that prohibits the mining of metals, including gold, following the president’s announcement of his intention to lift the measure in order to tap into those resources.
“We hope that our authorities will reconsider and not repeal the law that prohibits mining, protecting the health and life of our people,” San Salvador Archbishop José Luis Escobar Alas said in a Dec. 1 video statement.
The statement was issued after learning of Bukele’s intention to repeal the law, which the president announced in a post on X, stating: “We are the ONLY country in the world with a total ban on metal mining, something no other country has in place. Absurd! This wealth, given by God, can be used responsibly to bring unprecedented economic and social development to our people.”
In addition, Bukele said that “God placed a gigantic treasure under our feet: El Salvador potentially has gold deposits with the highest density per km² in the world.”
The Salvadoran
