Photograph Source: Casa Presidencial – CC0 – Public Domain
Despite President Nayib Bukele’s persistent hype, it’s a dangerous time in El Salvador.
The significant democratic spaces carved out by the Chapultepec Peace Accords of 1992 continue to diminish, as Bukele’s “state of exception” becomes a seemingly permanent fixture. That “emergency” measure was announced almost 40 months ago, in March 2022.
Whereas Chapultepec called for restricting the constitutional role of the military to national defense (among other reforms), the state of exception grants “unrestricted powers to the security forces of El Salvador.” Bukele has used this extra latitude in his iron-fisted bid to neutralize criminal gangs—and increasingly his critics. There also have been changes in criminal laws, effectively restricting due process.
El Salvador is in a constitutional crisis, so much so that one can get into serious legal trouble even for being a lawyer—at least the kind who upholds the law, rather than kowtowing to Bukele.
Alejandro Henríquez, Ruth Eleonora López, and Enrique Anaya, all prominent Salvadoran attorneys, are currently detained on laughable charges. Many observers, Salvadoran and international, believe that their only “crimes” are having publicly confronted and criticized Bukele’s authoritarian regime.
As Jemimah Steinfeld of the Index on Censorship opines, “El Salvador is only safe for those who bite their tongue, which means it isn’t safe at all.”
May 13, 2025
Alejandro Henríquez—lawyer, environmentalist, and human-rights defender—was arrested on May 13. The day before, he’d provided legal accompaniment to families from Cooperativa El Bosque, as they peacefully demonstrated their desire to remain on land they’d been granted during the agrarian reform. During the war, the redistribution of land “was promised as a key step toward peace and social justice, a process that led to the formation of hundreds of rural cooperatives,” writes Camilo Freedman in The Guardian.
Approximately 150 residents of El Bosque (representing nearly 300 families) were near Bukele’s upscale home in Los Sueños. They wanted their president to stop their eviction by the Santa Tecla Labor Court. But civil and military police intervened, and pastor and El Bosque president José Ángel Pérez was detained. The next day, Henríquez was arrested by armed men at Foro del Agua (Water Forum)—“arbitrarily and without a court order,” according to the International Observatory of Lawyers.
Salvadoran social movements organized a press conference. Rafael Paz Narvaez of the Critical Thought University Movement argued, “This is not the first time that this government has promoted the seizure of land belonging to the popular class.” He said that more than 20 communities have been at risk of being removed for construction projects, including the CECOT mega-prison.
Perhaps because the suppressed demonstration was publicized, El Bosque’s eviction order was voided. But, despite the nonviolent nature of the action, Pérez and Henríquez have been charged with “disturbing public order” and “resistance.” Imprisoned, they await their trials.
May 18, 2025
Not even a week after the El Bosque arrests, Ruth López was lured out of her home—late at night, in her pajamas—when police officers told her that her car had been involved in an accident. Once on the street, she was arrested without a warrant.
By now, López has been charged with “illegal enrichment” while working for Eugenio Chicas, the former president of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal. (Chicas has been charged, too.) Long an advocate for governmental transparency, López has demanded a public trial, but so far her case is sealed.
Her prosecution and imprisonment could be a very hard sell, even for Bukele.
Last December, López was named by the BBC as one of the 100 most influential women in the world, due to her work around political transparency and public accountability. Notably, she investigated the Salvadoran government for possibly using Pegasus spyware to surveil Salvadoran journalists and human-rights defenders. And she went to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to try to thwart Bukele’s changing of the Salvadoran Constitution to run for another presidential term.
Given that López is the chief legal officer for the Anti-Corruption and Justice unit of the human rights organization Cristosal and a longstanding critic of Bukele’s administration, her arrest was scandalous but not entirely surprising. Cristosal claims that:
Ruth has been the target of constant smear campaigns. So far this year alone, she has been targeted in over 150 social media attacks driven by propaganda structures connected to the government of Nayib Bukele. These attacks originate from anonymous accounts, government media outlets, and content creators aligned with the government, all forming part of a sustained strategy to discredit her work as a human rights defender and promoter of transparency in government.
López says simply: “I am a political prisoner. All the charges are because of my legal work, due to my denunciation of corruption in this government.” She is currently serving a six-month prison sentence.
Amnesty International has designated López, Pérez, and Henríquez as “prisoners of conscience.” The organization demands their immediate and unconditional release.
June 7, 2025
Enrique Anaya, a prominent constitutional lawyer, saw López’s arrest as abusive and did not hold back. On a television program called Frente a Frente, the lawyer called Bukele a dictator: “He is what he is.” Anaya then admitted, “Here, whoever speaks, whoever criticizes, whoever does not kneel before the idol, gets imprisoned. Of course, I am afraid.”
That would be a reasonable fear for anyone in El Salvador. But Anaya reportedly requires medication for a chronic health condition, and he must realize that Salvadoran prisons are notoriously indifferent to such concerns. According to Socorro Jurídico Humanitario, a legal aid organization, at least 419 prisoners have died in prison during the state of exception, some of them for lack of medical treatment.
Anaya was arrested at his home on June 7 and is being prosecuted for “money and asset laundering.”
Cristosal published a statement that reads in part:
Enrique Anaya has been a key figure in defending democratic institutions and constitutional order. Drawing on his legal expertise, he has filed lawsuits before national and international bodies, challenging laws passed by the current Legislative Assembly and rulings that violate fundamental principles. Through articles, interviews, and public forums, he has been a critical voice against authoritarianism and the concentration of power.
The International Observatory of Lawyers notes “that lawyers are fundamental to the protection of rights and freedoms, and that their intimidation or detention constitutes a flagrant violation of the principles of independence of the profession.”
Bukele probably hopes that locking up the naysaying attorneys will encourage others to self-censor and play nice with him—sacrificing the rule of law for their convenience and careers.
An Uncertain Future
The Foreign Agents Law passed in the Legislative Assembly on May 20. It will impose a 30 percent tax “on all foreign funding, including donations, goods, and services”—and require individuals and organizations receiving such funds to register as foreign agents under the Interior Ministry. According to Human Rights Watch, this law gives the Salvadoran government “expansive authority to control, stigmatize, and sanction human rights groups and independent media outlets that receive international support.”
During Bukele’s first term, his New Ideas party wrangled a supermajority within the legislature and the judiciary. Now, early in his second term, he’s preparing to dominate the NGO space as well.
Most polling shows that his favorability with voters remains high, between 80–90 percent. And about 2/3 of votersstill support the state of exception. However, polling from the University Institute of Public Opinion at José Simeón Cañas Central American University found that 58 percent fear retaliation if they express disapproval of the government, and 48 percent believe that critics could be arrested and imprisoned.
One reading of those polls is that Bukele’s “iron fist” does not play well when used against his critics. Bukele should seriously consider the possibility that abusing his critics imperils himself as well as them.
This first appeared on FPIF.
The post Does Bukele the Strongman Show Weakness When Imprisoning Critics? appeared first on CounterPunch.org.