By ESENDOM
15 de mayo de 2026
On May 4, President Luis Abinader ordered the suspension of Goldquest’s Romero mining project in San Juan de la Maguana after weeks of mass mobilizations. After years of defeats, demobilization and state repression, activists from social movements in the Dominican Republic see this huge victory as a political opening that will pave the way for future struggles. Here are five takeaways from this important environmental win.
1. The people united will never be defeated
The 24-hour general strike on April 27 in San Juan de la Maguana and the mass protests that preceded it showed that people united in one common goal can advance their political demands. As in past occasions, the wealthy few tried to divide the majority of the population, that is, working-class people, but in the end, ordinary people realized that fighting together made them stronger.
2. Citizen journalism beats legacy media
Ordinary people, mostly young people, took on the role of citizen journalists on social media to counter state propaganda whose main goal was to convince people that the Romero mining project would bring prosperity to their region.
3. Diaspora mobilization sends a strong message to the Dominican government
The role of Dominican communities abroad continues to play a role in Dominican politics. And while not as big as the anti-corruption Marcha Verde protests of 2017, the May 2 Washington Heights protest in solidarity with the environmental struggle sent a strong message to Dominican politicians and the government.
4. Young people want change
Since 2025, young people around the world have taken to the streets to demand justice and democracy from Peru to Nepal and Morocco and other places around the world under the banner of the Gen Z movement. This year, young people in San Juan and other regions in the Dominican Republic also took to the streets and cyberspace en masse. Contrary to what old, conservative commentators say, young people are willing to engage in civic disobedience to enact change. Young people are one of the main political actors of this environmentalist movement that from the start, spread like wildfire thanks to the agitational work of the newer generations.
5. Concise and clear political slogans mobilize communities
Who would have thought that a slogan as simple as “Oro no, Agua si” (Gold no, Yes to Water) would mobilize thousands into action? That’s exactly what happened in San Juan as ordinary people from the South engaged in civic participation, pushing people in other regions to mobilize and fight in defence of water, life and their own livelihoods.
Short and sweet, the “Oro no, Agua si”slogan became a rallying cry that will reverberate for years to come as the ecological crisis in the Dominican Republic and the Caribbean deepens.