It is not the only thing that has happened these days. May 5, The president also used his social networks to order the arrest of public transport entrepreneurs whose units did not work that day. There are 16 arrested and they are union to non -compliance with duties, denial of help, peculation and extortion.
This week the lawyer was arrested Ruth Lópezone of the most critical voices of the government of the Bukele and Defender of Human Rights. The Prosecutor’s Office accuses her of peculation, but her organization, the renowned NGO Chrysalhe maintains that the case is part of the “trend in El Salvador, where Criminalization and detention against human rights defenders has gained special connotation and severity”
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, speaks during a joint press conference with the president of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, on November 11, 2024. (Photo by Ezequiel Becerra / AFP).
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Besides, The El Faro Digital Portal confirmed that several of its pariodistas have left the country in the face of official warnings of arrest orders as a consequence of publishing an investigation and interviews with gang members about Bukele’s pact with Las Maras since he was mayor of San Salvador.
As for the Foreign Agents Lawit all started on Monday, May 12, when some 300 peasant families of the community The forest They protested 500 meters from the entrance of the private urbanization of dreams, where he lives Bukele And where Presidency of the Republic is building a new presidential residence, the lighthouse reported.
The community of The forest I wanted to get attention and requested the help of the president After an eviction court order was notified. Police captured the communal leader José Ángel Pérez already Alejandro HenriquezLegal Consultant of the El Bosque Cooperativa and Defender of Human Rights.
A demonstration to request the release of a young lawyer, defender of environmental rights, and a community leader arrested in El Salvador after requesting the help of President Nayib Bukele to stop the eviction of some 300 families. (EFE/ Rodrigo Sura).
On the afternoon of Tuesday, May 13, Bukele, in power since 2019, reacted through his personal account on social network X, where accused civil society organizations of responding to a globalist agenda and seeking to destabilize the countryand announced the shipment to the Congress of the Foreign Agents Law.
“Yesterday We witnessed how humble people were manipulated by self -domening groups of left and globalist NGOswhose only real objective is to attack the government ”, wrote Bukele.
The president acknowledged that the situation of The forest It was “difficult,” but said he would not use public resources to meet her. “It would be unfair for Salvadorans who pay for rent or housing quotas have to finance with their taxes the land of those who simply make more noise,” said.
“Therefore, and given the apparent concern of these NGOs, I have decided to send to the Legislative Assembly the bill of foreign agents, which will include a 30% tax over all donations that these NGOs receive. With these funds, the cooperative’s debt will be paid ”advertisement.
El Faro recalled that the same bill had already been sent by Bukele to the Congress in 2021, but that time the tax was 40%. The proposal did not become law due to international pressure, especially USA. But today, with Donald Trump in power in that country, the Washington approach has changed, as he shares with Bukele Criticisms against civil society organizations.
Bukele’s authoritarian drift
The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, arrives at a press conference on January 14, 2025 in San Salvador. (Photo by Marvin Recinos / AFP).
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In dialogue with Commercethe executive director of the NGO Action Citizen, Eduardo Escobarhe described the bill as repressive legislation contrary to democratic principlessuch as freedom of expression and the right to organization.
Escobar said that the full text of the proposal is not yet known, but indicated that In addition to the 30% tax, it will contain provisions that have to do with preventing the work of NGOs.
“It seeks financially affecting civil society organizations and preventing them from doing their job. That is the immediate effect. What is the crime to organize and claim your rights?”, questioned.
He added that El Salvador lives at this time an authoritarian escalation by the government against different sectors that are not complying with what the president wants.
“This measure is framed in that logic of exclusion from civil society. He puts us as enemies of the people and occurs just when repression scale, because some human rights defenders, public transport entrepreneurs have been arrested … It is also an attempt to divert public care in a series of situations that can impact the president’s image, such as El Faro’s revelations about the government’s relationship with gangsamong other issues, “he said.
Where is democracy in El Salvador? Escobar said that The country “It is on its way to being a Nicaragua 2.0. The president has already done everything in the manual: he has already reformed the Constitution, he has already re -elected, he already dismissed magistrates, the legislative assembly has already controlled, he is attacking the independent press, he is attacking civil organizations, he stops businessmen of a certain level when they are not doing what he says. “
“Many people and organizations have abandoned their efforts, because they do not seek to become martyrs, especially when There are conditions for illegal detention. The main affected will be the communities, since the projects could stop ”he noted.
Ruth López’s case
Ruth López is Chief Anti -Corruption of the Civil Organization Crystosal and was arrested by the Police of El Salvador. (Prosecutor’s Office of El Salvador).
Ruth LópezChief of the Anti -Corruption and Justice Unit of Chrysalthe main NGO dedicated to the defense of human rights in El Salvadorshe was arrested Sunday night by order of the Prosecutor’s Office, which accuses her of peculation before starting her work in the aforementioned organization.
López has headed several investigations on the Bukele governmentand was recognized by the BBC as one of the 100 women more influential and inspiring in the world in 2024.
Through a statement, Crystosal pointed out on Monday that López was arrested “illegally” And that, so far, “she is forced missing, without her family or her legal team having been able to see her, not even talk to her.”
“Ruth’s arrest is not an isolated event. It is part of a systematic strategy of the Nayib Bukele government to silence critical voicesdismantle civil society and consolidate an authoritarian regime. Journalists, social organizations and human rights defenders are criminalized“Cristosal said.
“Today was Ruth, but the message is clear: It seeks to sow fear in the entire social movement of human rights. We demand its immediate release. Ruth suffers from arterial hypertension and needs constant medication, so your detention under these conditions is not only illegal, but inhuman. We also demand that the Prosecutor’s Office, the Judicial Branch and all State institutions act independently, fulfill their constitutional mandate and stop this political persecution ”he added.
Eduardo Escobar described the case of Ruth López as a political movement of the government, a political rematch rather than a real persecution of corruption. “And if we add that we have a judicial and investigation system of the crime that offer no guarantee of independence, or impartiality, because this is even worse, because there is little margin so that a person with whom the Government has designed to recover their freedom”He warned.
