Residents of Tecoluca, in the department of San Vicente, awoke on April 15 to find the Bravo River an unusual coffee color. That same day, animals living in the river began to wash up dead on its banks. Shortly thereafter, livestock and pets that drink from the river also began to fall ill and die. A preliminary investigation by the Tecoluca municipality revealed a dumping of liquid by Jiboa Sugar Mill, which the community alleges is poisoning the river.

Communities in Tecoluca, many of which are historically organized leftist agricultural communities, have been fighting the usurpation of their lands, environmental degradation, and attacks against their leaders under the Bukele regime. We offer below a translation of the Land, Water, and Natural Resource Defense Movement’s statement on the recent ecological disasters in the region at the hands of private business and government projects like Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) mega-prison.

THE LAND, WATER, AND NATURAL RESOURCE DEFENSE MOVEMENT

1. We emphatically condemn the ecological disaster caused by the dumping of chemical liquids, used to clean the machinery of the Jiboa Sugar Mill, into the Bravo River, killing all of the species that live in the river, as well as livestock, domestic animals, and others, in the communities of El Socorro, San Andrés Los Achiotes, Guajoyo, Granzaso, Miramar, and other neighboring communities.

2. We denounce the Ministry of the Environment and Ministry of Public Health authorities for their complacency with the irresponsible businessmen who threaten our natural resources and the health of the people who live in the communities around the river. We express our full support to the affected communities and we will soon be accompanying the protests against this appalling ecological disaster to make those responsible pay for the damage they have caused.

3. We also express our total condemnation of the contamination caused by CECOT in the communities of San Francisco Angulo, El Milagro, El Puente, Cantarrana, and the surrounding communities.

4. We declare our categorical opposition to the disasters affecting the Lempa River due to the indiscriminate extraction of stones from the river, deforestation, contamination of the river, the destruction of our plots of land due to the indiscriminate sand extraction for commercial purposes, and the construction of government mega-projects.

5. As the Land, Water, and Natural Resource Defense Movement, we once again call on the national and international communities to stand in solidarity with the communities that are being affected by these criminal acts committed by irresponsible businessmen with the support of the government.

El Salvador, April 24, 2024