A NEW government crackdown on critics and humanitarian groups in El Salvador is causing organisations to flee the country for their own protection.
Cristosal, an organisation founded 25 years ago by an Anglican Bishop of El Salvador and a former Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral, Syracuse, and of St Luke’s Cathedral, Panama, to encourage fruitful links with the US Episcopal Church, has released a statement confirming the suspension of its operations and withdrawal of 22 staff. One employee remains: Ruth López, a lawyer who led Cristosal’s anti-corruption unit. She has been detained by police since May, but the charges against her have not been made public.
In a statement, the executive director, Noah Bullock, said: “The arrest of our colleague Ruth López, lawyer and human rights defender, is not an isolated case but part of a broader strategy of exemplary punishment meant to intimidate. Ruth is imprisoned for demanding transparency and denouncing corruption. Like her, many others have been criminalized for their work or forced into exile.
“Cristosal has faced legal and administrative harassment, spying, surveillance of its activities and staff homes, as well as defamation campaigns. While this adverse context is not new, this is the first time there are no guarantees of legal defense in El Salvador.
“On top of this, the Foreign Agents Law (LAEX), is an authoritarian tool that imposes arbitrary sanctions, punitive taxes, and state monitoring to censor and punish independent organizations. Faced with this scenario of growing authoritarian consolidation, we were forced to make the painful decision to suspend our operations in El Salvador. We do so to protect our team — people who have had to leave their country to keep defending rights — safeguard our work, and ensure that the defense of human rights remains alive.”
President Bukele imposed a state of emergency on the country in March 2022, suspending constitutional rights and curtailing freedom of the press, as part of his crackdown on violent gang crime. Human-rights groups say that about 85,000 people have since been arrested.
The Foreign Agents law requires organisations that receive international funding to register as “foreign agents” and imposes a 30-per-cent tax on every transaction involving foreign funds.
Cristosal has received funds from US and private philanthropic organisations, including the Rockefeller Foundation. The foreign-aid freeze by the Trump administration in February also affected the charity and caused it to halt its humanitarian aid to displaced people in El Salvador.
President Bukele’s regime has dramatically reduced crime levels, including gang murders, in the country and remains popular with the public.
But Mr Bullock said: “The regime of President Nayib Bukele, abetted by his brothers, has dismantled the basic principles of democracy. Under a permanent state of exception and with near-total control over all institutions, El Salvador has ceased to be a state governed by the rule of law. Today, expressing an opinion or demanding basic rights can land you in jail. Freedom of expression, peaceful protest, and civic participation have become acts punished and restricted by those in power.”
Cristosal said it would continue to operate from its bases in Honduras and Guatemala.