New Authoritarian Crackdown in El Salvador Denounced
HAVANA TIMES – Six international humanitarian organizations denounced on Monday, May 19, the arrest of Ruth Lopez, a prominent human rights defender in El Salvador, as part of a repressive and authoritarian escalation by President Nayib Bukele’s government in the Central American country.
Lopez, head of the Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit of the human rights NGO Cristosal, was arrested on the night of May 18, accused by the Attorney General’s Office of corruption during the administration of former President Salvador Sanchez Cerén (2014–2019).
The protesting organizations said: “It is alarming that the whereabouts of Ms. Lopez are unknown. Authorities have denied her access to a lawyer and to her family, which raises serious concerns about her safety and due process.”
“Our organizations have been closely monitoring the closing of civic space and the attacks on independent media in El Salvador and are deeply concerned about the growing climate of fear that threatens freedoms in the country,” adds the joint statement.
The statement is signed by Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the Washington Office on Latin America, the Center for Justice and International Law, the Seattle International Foundation, and the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Working Group.
The six civic society organizations stated that Lopez “is a prominent lawyer who has denounced human rights violations and corruption during Bukele’s administration,” and that in 2024 she was included in the list of the 100 most influential and inspiring women in the world by the BBC.
They stated that in El Salvador, “authoritarianism has increased in recent years, as President Nayib Bukele has undermined institutions and the rule of law and has targeted civil society organizations and independent journalists.”
They noted that “our organizations have been closely monitoring the closing of civic space and the attacks on independent media in El Salvador and are deeply concerned about the growing climate of fear that threatens freedoms in the country.”
They pointed out that the state of emergency in effect in El Salvador since March 2022 “has not only been used to address gang-related violence but also as a tool to silence critical voices.”
Through the state of emergency, the Bukele government has implemented a “tough-on-crime” police and military policy against gangs, highlighted by the incarceration of tens of thousands of criminals or suspected criminals in a maximum-security prison known as the Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot).
Cecot was also used to detain over 200 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States in March, under an agreement between Presidents Bukele and Donald Trump.
Amnesty International denounced that, in response to social unrest during the first two weeks of May, “the government resorted to excessive use of force, improper militarization, criminalization of protest, and threats to further restrict civic space.”
In response to a protest by transport workers, the government detained 16 of them, one of whom died while in custody.
Another protest, involving about 300 residents of the El Bosque community over a land ownership dispute, was aiming to reach the president’s residence and was reportedly met with excessive force, according to Amnesty. Pastor Jose Angel Perez of the Elim Church and environmentalist Alejandro Henriquez were arrested.
Following these actions, Bukele announced he would send a Foreign Agents Law proposal to the Legislative Assembly that would impose a 30% tax on donations received by non-profit organizations, arguing they manipulate the population.
Amnesty stated that, if enacted, this law “would constitute a new and serious attack on civic space and the right to defend human rights, by weakening the work of organizations currently supporting the constant and numerous victims of human rights violations in the country.”
First published in Spanish by IPS and translated and posted in English by Havana Times.