2021 El Salvador’s Catholic Church leaders highlight threat of Cerro Blanco mine to nation’s water supply

On 27 November 2021, the leaders of the Episcopal Conference of El Salvador (the archbishop and nine Bishops) issued a public letter highlighting the right to water as a social good that all should protect. The bishops pointed to the precarious situation of El Salvador’s watercourses, many of which, despite being unfit for human consumption or agriculture, continued to be used for just those purposes.  The bishops drew attention to El Salvador’s reliance on watercourses that originate in neighbouring countries and the threat posed by contamination from mining in these countries to water which El Salvadorans depend on. In particular, the bishops highlighted the threat of the Cerro Blanco mine project to contaminate the River Ostúa, which in turn would pollute the Güija Lake, then the River Lempa—the principal river on which El Salvador’s population depends for its well-being.  The Conference also criticised aspects of the recently approved General Law on water resources, and called for the rapid ratification of Constitutional reforms which recognised the right to water and adequate food as human rights.