El Salvador: Mothers lead fight against mining

“As an Evangelical Christian, I am against mining because mining is death—it destroys the environment that God created. As Christians, we must defend the earth and care for it.” Suyapa de Faustino

Suyapa and dozens of other mothers are speaking out against the reintroduction of mining which threatens to pollute their families’ drinking water.

In 2017, after decades of opposition from local communities and the Catholic Church, El Salvador became the first country to ban metallic mining. This was a major victory because El Salvador’s rivers are among the most contaminated in the world, and many people still lack access to potable water.

But on December 23, 2024, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele pushed through legislation overturning the mining ban. Bukele has leveraged his success in reducing violence and extortion to tighten control over Salvadoran society, imprisoning more than one percent of the population and silencing dissent.

Suyapa first got involved in COFOA through its land-rights campaign, after she and her neighbors were defrauded of their land titles. She quickly emerged as a leader – negotiating and advocating for land reform, better health care, and most recently, to prevent a return to mining.

COFOA believes that women like Suyapa, fighting for clean water for their families, can be a driving force in the campaign to halt mining once and for all.

As Suyapa says, “If mothers don’t speak up for their families, who will?”