Supported by social movement allies, the Santa Marta Association for Economic and Social Development (ADES), held a press conference on February 11 denouncing 25 months of persecution against the group of environmentalists known internationally at the Santa Marta 5.

The Santa Marta 5, who helped lead the movement which led to El Salvador’s historic 2017 ban on metals mining, were arrested on January 11, 2023, shortly after the Santa Marta community began sounding the alarm on indications that the Nayib Bukele government intended to reactivate mining in the country. The mining ban was reversed by the Bukele-aligned legislature on December 23, 2024.

ADES spokesperson Alfredo Leiva read from a statement, decrying that the Santa Marta 5 “have been victims of a false accusation, eight months in prison, and the repetition of the public hearing which, in practice, amounts to double jeopardy.”

Their retrial, scheduled for February 3, was suspended following the defendants’ decision not to attend. Leiva decried the suspension, stating “that the current criminal procedural framework allows hearings to be held without the defendants present.”

In a statement from the five water defenders, they gave their reasons for not appearing in court, including that “we already went through a trial that resulted in our release by the Sensuntepeque Sentencing Court” and “because there are no guarantees of a fair and lawful trial.”

According to ADES, “[In their letter] the environmentalist comrades denounce a plan to secure a conviction by any means, imprison them at all costs and probably kill them in prison. …”

Speaking at the press conference, Ingrid Escobar of Socorro Jurídico Humanitario expressed support for the environmentalists’ decision not to attend. She cited recent criminal code reforms that allow pretrial detention for up to half of the prison sentence for the corresponding charges. Escobar states that in the Santa Marta 5 case, this could amount to ten years of pretrial detention.

ADES Executive Director Vidalina Morales also condemned increased hostility towards Santa Marta community members, which they claim could result in more leaders being arrested and imprisoned in El Salvador’s deadly prisons. “We are afraid for our lives,” Morales stated.

ADES also made a call to the nation to unite in light of “the seriousness of the mining threat and the urgency of safeguarding the country from an environmental disaster of catastrophic dimensions.”
“As Santa Marta and ADES, we value their decision as an act of resistance against arbitrariness and we assume their call to close ranks against the threat of mining exploitation. We believe that their call to fight for ‘national survival’ and for the health and life of the entire Salvadoran population is more pertinent than ever.
That is why today we propose to all social, academic, union and religious organizations, and to the entire population in general, to become one body in the defense of water, health and the life of present and future generations.”

Former FMLN Leader and Key Witness Arrested

Two days after the press conference, former Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) president and Communications Secretary to FMLN President Salvador Sánchez Cerén, Eugenio Chicas, was arrested after dropping his son off at school.

Chicas, a longtime leader of the FMLN, was a key witness for the defense in the Santa Marta 5 trial. Analysts have suggested that his arrest may be linked to his key role in the trial.

Chicas, an outspoken critic of Bukele, was arrested on charges of “unlawful enrichment” despite having been adjudicated on the same charges in November 2024. His wife has stated that he suffers from hypertension, diabetes, and a heart condition. “Without his medication, he will not survive.”

The Santa Marta community denounced Chicas’s detention, stating, “The community of Santa Marta categorically condemns his arrest, because, knowing the arbitrary way in which the prosecution and the police act in the service of the current unconstitutional government, we have no doubt that the motive is not legal, but political.”