Caribbean & Central America - May 2026

It could be described as a quick turnaround. On 3 May thousands of protestors registered their opposition to the Romero gold, copper and silver mine; the next day President Luis Abinader ordered a halt to all development at the project, which is owned by GoldQuest of Canada.

The mine is in San Juan province. It has the capacity to produce round 117,000 gold ounces a year as well as significant volumes of copper and silver. Demonstrators who oppose the mine walked around 20km to the Sabaneta dam, a water source that they say will be threatened by the development. Explaining his freeze on development work at the project, President Abinader said “when citizens express worries and concerns, our duty is to act with caution and transparency.” The project has not yet received a full environmental impact approval. GoldQuest  has acknowledged public concern and says it is committed to “transparent development”.

Public opinion has begun to turn against big mining projects in the country. These are now seen as a potential threat to water and agricultural use. Mining currently represents around 2% of GDP on data from the World Bank. A water protection movement is now backed by teachers, doctors, and farmers who fear water contamination. In the light of the protests, how the Romero project will progress is not entirely clear. However, former president Hipólito Mejía (2000-2004) has called for technical reports to underpin the debate.