Church in El Salvador calls for mining ban

The Church in El Salvador has asked the small Central American country's legislature to ban metal mining.

Archbishop Jose Luis Escobar Alas said on Monday that the country's mining law is so obsolete that it makes El Salvador especially vulnerable to exploitation.

In October, El Salvador celebrated a victory in international arbitration against a multinational mining company. Pac Rim Cayman had demanded $250 million for potential profits lost when the government did not grant it a license to mine gold.