Background Information on Weslandia
Weslandia, El Salvador’s 15th department, is located in the western part of El Salvador. The Laurels Camp area is located approximately 10 minutes west of Weslandia’s capital city, Madison. Weslandia’s mountainous terrain is blanketed in deep forest cover, including groves of Pine, Ash, Cedar, and Tamarack Trees. Most of Weslandia, however, is not covered in trees. Its geography, people, economy, and culture are virtually identical to that of the Department of Sonsonate, which it borders. The Sensunapán River runs through Weslandia and is the main water resource for the inhabitants of the region. For the native Nahuizalco people, the river is sacred and a source of life. For the Government of El Salvador and investors, the river is an important asset that facilitates mining.
Historical Background
The history of El Salvador over the past half-century (at least) has been colored, if not irrevocably shaped, by its relationship with the United States. The civil war in El Salvador officially began in 1980, sparked by the assassination of human rights defender Archbishop Óscar Romero. Before the official start of the war, left-wing guerrillas and right-wing paramilitary forces had engaged in conflict throughout the prior two decades. The root causes of the war included social inequality, repressive military rule, and poverty.
After the 1979 coup against dictator Carlos Humberto Romero, a group of officers established the Revolutionary Government Junta or JRG (Junta Revolucionaria de Gobierno in Spanish). The political struggle between civilians, the military junta, and right-wing groups intensified as anti-government actors, including guerilla groups, organized protests, occupations, bombings, and strikes across the country. Simultaneously, right-wing forces armed themselves and eventually allied with the military against the JRG.
In the early 1980s, violence became systematic as repression and terror spread across the country. After the Farabundo Martí Liberation Front or FMLN (Farabundo Martí de Liberación Nacional in Spanish) was officially formed in 1980, tensions intensified. Actions by FMLN targeted military installations and perceived supporters of the regime; indiscriminate attacks (carried out by military or paramilitary forces) on civilians began. Most attacks took place in rural areas and included aerial bombings and artillery attacks. The Salvadoran military often assumed that civilians were members of guerrilla groups or were directly supporting them, which resulted in a number of massacres through “pacification” campaigns aimed at regaining territorial control of guerilla-controlled areas. The violence between counter-insurgency military operations, the FMLN, and the military resulted in a high number of displaced individuals, many of whom died attempting to escape El Salvador. The civil war period saw a range of human rights violations, including the institutional recruitment of child soldiers and illegal repressive measures to weaken the opposition.
The United States played an important role as the main supporter of the Salvadoran military, with the aim of limiting the spread of Communism to South America. The U.S. sent hundreds of millions of dollars in military aid, training, and advisors to the government, supporting the Salvadoran forces throughout the war and directing resources to train and expand the military. The U.S. also supported the training of units specialized in anti-guerrilla warfare. These units included the Atlácatl battalion, responsible for massacres of entire villages, many of whose leaders were trained at the U.S.-operated School of the Americas.
Peace negotiations began in 1984, but failed to progress for years due largely to the inability to reach an agreement on the incorporation of the FMLN into political life. However, in 1989, the FMLN launched its greatest offensive against the national government, escalating the conflict. Later that same year, the military killed six Jesuit priests as well as the wife and daughter of the caretaker of their house. The peak of violence and the end of the Cold War triggered an international process to end the conflict. The negotiations resumed after the FMLN and the national forces realized that a guerrilla victory would not happen, nor would the guerrillas be vanquished by military force alone.
The United Nations engaged directly in the negotiations as a mediator between the parties. The peace talks resulted in a number of agreements addressing human rights, reforms to the military, changes in the judicial and electoral system, the establishment of a Truth Commission, the cessation of hostilities, and disarmament. In 1993, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador passed an amnesty law that protected all military and guerrilla forces from being prosecuted for human rights violations.
El Salvador Today
Today, El Salvador is experiencing violence associated with gangs, including the two most important, the MS-13 and El Barrio 18, which originally emerged in Los Angeles and were primarily formed by Central American immigrants who had fled their countries because of armed conflict. Prior administrations implemented “Mano Dura” policies to combat gangs, employing harsher mandatory sentencing laws and preventive detention. External observers believe these policies increased the power of gangs in El Salvador, serving to consolidate gangs in prisons, isolate gang members from society, and heighten levels of violence.
These illegal groups control neighborhoods by violent means and often extort local residents and merchants, forcing them to pay regular, small contributions, or renta. The violence they promote, their role in other forms of criminality, and their ability to recruit youth are a cause of grave concern to many, including the intelligence community in Central America, Mexico, and the United States.
Most recently, the current President, Nayib Bukele, agreed to jail members of Tren de Aragua and MS-13 deported from the United States on behalf of the Trump Administration in a meeting with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February 2025. Bukele said deportees were in the custody of the Central American country’s Centre for the Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) for a one-year period that could be extended.
In addition, a group named the Salvadoran Insurrection Brigade allegedly attempted to set bombs off during President Bukele’s May 2024 inauguration. The police have detained José Santos Melara of the leftist FMLN party, a political party formed by former guerrillas, as well as at least seven others. Local activists have called these arrests “arbitrary and political persecution.” Melara, as well as the others arrested, are still in detention.
Erosion of Democratic Institutions
The period following the end of the civil war was perceived by a majority of Salvadorans as relatively stable for democracy, but insufficient in terms of delivering better conditions to the majority of the population. Bukele leveraged the general discontent against the largest political parties (the FMLN and Arena) and Salvadoran elites to consolidate his power. With over half of the votes in the 2019 elections, President Bukele benefited from popular anger over violent crime and numerous corruption scandals surrounding the political establishment. Since then, he has employed a range of what experts have deemed populist strategies to consolidate his own power and undermine democratic norms in the country. He has even called himself “the world’s coolest dictator.”
President Bukele has attacked independent publications such as El Faro, publicly questioning their credibility. Bukele has also launched several attempts to undermine the judiciary to preserve and further consolidate his rule.
In 2021, the President declared a state of emergency following a spike in homicides allegedly committed by gangs, which has since been extended several times. During this period, Salvadoran authorities have committed massive human rights violations, including thousands of arbitrary detentions and violations of due process – suspending civil liberties to arrest more than 75,000 Salvadorans without charges – as well as torture and ill-treatment. According to Amnesty International, at least 18 people have died in state custody. Recent amendments to the Criminal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure and their implementation in this context by the Specialized Courts, the Attorney General’s Office and the Prosecutor’s Office, among others, have undermined the rights to defense, the presumption of innocence, effective judicial remedy, and access to independent judges. After President Bukele’s party (Nuevas Ideas) won the legislative elections, government allies in the Legislative Assembly voted to remove and replace the five judges on the Constitutional Chamber of El Salvador’s Supreme Court, as well as the Attorney General. In their rulings on the matter, Bukele-allied legislators argued that the judges had obstructed implementation and enforcement of the country’s strict COVID-19 lockdown protocol, which was denounced by Human Rights Watch.
In 2021, an estimated 15,000 people took to the streets of the capital to protest against President Bukele’s growing authoritarianism, destroying a recently installed bitcoin ATM machine in the process (Bukele has adopted bitcoin as legal tender).
However, despite these signs of popular disapproval (and after El Salvador’s Supreme Elected Tribunal scrapped constitutional provisions limiting second terms), Bukele remained widely popular as he sought reelection. He campaigned on the success of his draconian security strategy.
In February 2024, Bukele celebrated a landslide election victory, “far outstripping his nearest competitor. In reply to critics who warn that El Salvador is moving toward authoritarianism, Bukele told crowds, “we are not substituting democracy because El Salvador has never had democracy.” Once the self-styled “world’s coolest dictator,” Bukele called himself El Salvdor’s “philosopher king.”
Mining in Context
As in other countries in Latin America, the history of mining in El Salvador is contested. Mining activity boomed in the country between 2002 and 2012, stirring up a great deal of social unrest. Pacific Rim Mining Corporation, a small Vancouver-based exploration company acquired the rights to the El Dorado gold and silver deposit in San Isidro, Cabañas. During this time, anti-mining networks in El Salvador made the country’s water crisis and mining related threats to water a centerpiece of their discourse. This rhetoric succeeded in uniting and galvanizing diverse segments of Salvadoran society, partly because El Salvador’s high population density creates greater competition for water resources, which heightens the perception of water insecurity. Furthermore, contamination from agriculture and manufacturing exacerbates these shortages, with El Salvador suffering from high rates of deforestation and severe surface water contamination. More than 90% of El Salvador’s surface water is estimated to be polluted by toxic chemicals, heavy metals, and waste matter.
In addition, a series of grisly murders of environmental activists and mine opponents between 2009 and 2011 in and around San Isidro, Cabañas are emblematic of how mining can interrupt community life and engender violence. In June 2009, local environmental activist Marcelo Rivera was found murdered. In December of that same year, two more local environmentalists active with the Comité Ambiental de Cabañas (Cabañas Environmental Committee) Ramiro Rivera and Dora Alicia Sorto, were murdered within days of each other.
After 11 years of deal-making in the Legislative Assembly, El Salvador became the first country in the world to include a ban on metal mining in its legislative framework. The historic legislation was the achievement of over a decade of community organizing and education, led principally by rural women, and came at the cost of violent harassment, threats, and even the assassination of community leaders involved in the struggle.
However, a less-well known provision in the law flew under the radar: Existing projects that had been granted environmental permits would be allowed to continue operating for ten additional years, with the goal of phasing out all metal mining operations by 2027. Furthermore, activists have warned that, under the current Bukele administration, there is a threat that metal mining will return to El Salvador. Bukele administration officials have met with representatives from the Intergovernmental Forum on Mining, Minerals, Metals and Development (IGF), a Canadian organization that supports and promotes mining. El Salvador recently joined the IGF, although the administration did not reveal this information until six months after the fact.
Even before the renewed threat of mining, social movement organizations had repeatedly denounced the Bukele administration for showing little interest in environmental issues. Within months of taking power, the government began granting permits for construction and other megaprojects at an unprecedented rate. More recently, the administration refused to sign the Escazú Agreement, which would protect environmental defenders and facilitate access to environmental information. Over the last year, the Bukele administration has also pushed a corporate-friendly water bill despite wide opposition from civil society.
Laurels Camp
Laurels Camp is situated in close proximity to the Sensunapán River. When you visit the area, you'll have the opportunity to walk to the riverbanks. In both Weslandia and Sonsonate, significant tensions have arisen between local populations and a mining company due to disputes related to indigenous displacement, water rights, and pollution.
In 2014, the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) awarded contracts to a private mining company for mineral extraction along the Sensunapán River. This project is managed by the US-based Synamanchin Mining Company (SMC). Environmental groups and Nahuizalco Indigenous community organizations have raised concerns about the impact of mining activities on the river's flow and water quality. They argue that these activities not only affect the region's biodiversity but also have repercussions for indigenous communities relying on the river for drinking water. Notably, UNESCO designated the region as a Humanity Reserve belonging to the Cordillera Ilamatepec in 2007.
Laurels Camp is situated near copper, gold, and cadmium ore deposits. In 2014, the Salvadoran government granted SMC a mining permit to establish an open-pit metallic sulfide and gold mine on the deposit. This project, known as the Usdan Mine, required extensive deforestation and topsoil removal, leading to the forced eviction of many residents. The construction of the Usdan Mine was completed in late 2016 using explosives. Over recent years, a number of Laurels Camp residents have reported serious illnesses and incidents of livestock mortality. (The deposit is across the road from Laurels Camp and just beyond Tamarack Village; it is off-limits for student teams.)
In June 2024, Nahuizalco fisherpeople residing near the Sensunapán River discovered dead fish in the river. The National Association of Metal Mining in El Salvador, which includes SMC as a member, denied any connection between the Usdan Mine and the fish deaths. La Unidad Ecológica Salvadoreña (UNES) conducted environmental and health studies in the area, including Laurels Camp.
Despite escalating threats, harassment, assaults, and fatalities, UNES activists remain committed to documenting the health and environmental impacts of the Usdan Mine. They also continue to mobilize community members against the proposed expansion project near Laurels Camp. Synamanchin Mining Company persists in denying any actual or potential environmental impacts on the local population.
The Possible Expansion of the Usdan Mine to Laurels Camp
Recent reports have brought to light the intentions of the Salvadoran government and SMC to extend mining extraction operations to encompass Laurels Camp. This impending expansion has not only stirred concerns among local residents, but has also garnered the attention of prominent rights organizations, including La Unidad Ecológica Salvadoreña (UNES), La Fundación de Estudios para la Aplicación del Derecho (FESPAD), and El Comité Indígena para la Defensa de los Bienes Naturales de Nahuizalco (CIDBNN).
These organizations underscore that within the designated section of the river slated for the expanded mining activities, there are eleven sacred sites that hold a profound cultural significance for the Nahuizalco Indigenous people. Furthermore, their concerns find grounding in the overlay of historical memory, as the proposed site intersects with burial grounds that hold the remains of thousands of Indigenous individuals who were tragically assassinated in the 1932 massacre under the dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernández Martínez.
There have also been inconsistencies found in the project’s environmental impact study. Consequently, representatives from the Indigenous communities of the region had been forced to navigate complaint mechanisms with local authorities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Unfortunately, this course of action exacted a toll on the health of the communities as several representatives contracted COVID-19.
The Population at Laurels Camp
Many people from formerly British El Salvador were brought to Weslandia during the 19th and 20th centuries. As a result, there are several small Anglophone communities in the department, though many in these communities speak Spanish as well. English is the official and more commonly spoken language of Weslandia. (Spanish is the official language of El Salvador). More recently, migrant laborers seeking employment in El Salvador have further diversified the linguistic tapestry of the region.
Recent Events
Two simultaneous explosions rocked San Salvador at noon on April 1. Miraculously, no one was injured in either blast. One explosion occurred in front of the Legislative Assembly. The other was set off in front of the Hotel InterContinental San Salvador.
In both blasts, improvised explosive devices (IEDs) were hidden inside a construction helmet and placed in front of the buildings causing minor property damage. This prompted authorities to close public offices, schools, and other public areas for the remainder of the day. There were no injuries or deaths as a result of the attacks. Another explosion occurred in Santa Ana city on April 2.
A fourth attempted explosion was foiled on April 3 at the Salvadoran headquarters of the SMC. Security guards reportedly saw a strange car parked in a restricted area near the administrative building and saw a man run away from the vehicle and towards Laurels Camp. They immediately called their on-site explosives experts, who investigated the scene and defused a large bomb that they found in the trunk of the car. Had the bomb gone off, 38 innocent civilians would have lost their lives.
A few hours after the April 1 blasts in San Salvador, a phone call to leading Salvadoran daily El Diario de Hoy told the paper that a communiqué had been left with the receptionist at the paper’s headquarters. El Diario de Hoy published the communiqué within minutes on its website. The communiqué was signed by a group calling itself the Comunidad de Acción Revolucionaria por la Dignidad Indígena, el Nacionalismo Amplio y la Libertad, or CARDINAL. (In English, the Community for Revolutionary Action for Indigenous Dignity, Broad Nationalism and Freedom).
The communiqué emphasized the history of government oppression of campesinos, Indigenous communities, and workers. Furthermore, it condemned the government for letting a U.S. mining company (SMC) displace Indigenous people, pollute people’s homes and bodies and destroy ecosystems that are essential for mitigating the effects of climate change.
Some media outlets (relying on anonymous intelligence sources) have suggested that CARDINAL is involved in narcotrafficking, is connected to gangs and has used nationalist rhetoric to cover its real agenda. Because of their alleged ties to international terrorist groups and drug-trafficking, CARDINAL has been a focus of concern for the CIA and for other U.S. government agencies, all of which have been following recent events in El Salvador very carefully.