Report on the gold mining conflict in El Salvador

Richard Steiner, a professor at the University of Alaska active in environmental matters and a member of International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the Commission on Environmental Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP)has produced a report on gold mining in El Salvador. Steiner
Traveled to El Salvador from Jan. 20 – 28, 2010, to conduct a Rapid Assessment / Fact-Finding Mission regarding the situation with respect to the proposed El Dorado gold mine in the District of Cabanas. In particular, the assignment asked for information on the security situation in Cabanas, the recent wave of extra-judicial killings of environmental leaders opposing the mine, continuing threats toward citizens, the government response to the situation, the CAFTA actions filed by mining companies against the government, and the effort to ban metals mining in the country

His report, which is available at this link, offers a fairly comprehensive overview of the mining conflict in the country. While the report is plainly sympathetic to the anti-mining point of view, and is limited in its attempts to present opposing points of view, all the issues are covered.

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