A recent survey by the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) of the Central American University (UCA) put the problem of environmental protection and government policy into perspective.
The study showed that 48.3 percent responded that the government does something or a lot to preserve and protect the environment, while 49.6 percent said it does little or nothing, which reflects a topic that is current as the population waits for President Nayib Bukele to refrain from signing the General Law on Metal Mining.
How concerned are you about the problems facing the environment in the country: a lot, somewhat, a little or not at all? Iudop asked in the survey presented in December 2024, and in which 77.6 percent responded a lot.
Other actions that affect the environment were addressed by the survey. In this sense, the majority indicated that actions such as deforestation, 52.3 percent, damage the environment.
Environmental problems are in the spotlight today after the repeal by the Legislative Assembly of a Law that prohibited metal mining in the country that was adopted in 2017. Now, in search of alleged development, President Bukele is expected to sign a General Law on Metal Mining, which is opposed by universities, social and community organizations, the Church and various sectors in the country. In this regard, the Catholic priest Juan Vicente Chopin urged the president to veto the mining law, whose wealth according to the government could exceed three billion dollars.
The prelate even advanced the possibility that the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador (CEDES) issue a decree with “canonical consequences” for deputies who approved the law.
He asserted that if President Bukele has not approved it yet “he has the historic opportunity to veto it.”
He also assured that mining is not a political issue, although it has political implications, but in its essence it is directly related to people’s lives.
However, when the president proposed the initiative, he described the prohibition of metallic mining as absurd and explained that the existence of gold in the country is a “wealth given by God that can be exploited responsibly.”
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