This Sunday, December 22, during Sunday mass at the San Rafael Arcángel parish, the Archbishop of San Salvador, Monsignor José Luis Escobar Alas, expressed his position on metallic mining and emphasized that it would have “irreversible consequences” for the environment and the Salvadoran population, stressing that the country's water resources, especially the Lempa River, are at serious risk of contamination by chemicals such as cyanide, arsenic and mercury, used in the extraction of metals. teleSUR
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00:00In El Salvador, the Archbishop of San Salvador, Monseñor José Luis Escobar Alas,
00:05asked the government of Nayib Bukele not to pass the new mining law that would harm the population.
00:16We want to ask the authorities of our country, both the government and the legislature,
00:24not to approve a new mining law that would allow mining exploitation in our territory.
00:33On the contrary, the law that was approved in 2017 that protects our country from all mining
00:42exploitation should remain in force. We are facing a life and death situation.
00:50It is not a partisan political discussion. It is about the protection of people's lives,
01:00people's health. That is why we made this request, and that is why the Church raises its voice
01:09for the benefit of all, on behalf of these people who have suffered so much over time,
01:17over the years, since the conquest, and in the name of God himself.
01:26We ask you not to allow mining exploitation, which would take away the precious metals
01:35of our country, once again stripping us of them, but this time leaving in their place
01:44a large amount of lethal poison, lethal poison that will cause much harm to the population.