Crackdown on rights defenders intensifies in U.S.-backed El Salvador as Venezuelan migrant lawyer arrested

Department of Research, Studies and International News -20-05-2025

In another concerning development in Washington-backed El Salvador, authorities have arrested Ruth López, a prominent lawyer advocating for the rights of Venezuelan migrants detained after being deported from the United States. Her sudden and secretive detention marks yet another episode in a broader campaign targeting voices critical of President Nayib Bukele’s administration, which has increasingly drawn criticism for its disregard for civil liberties.

López, who serves as the head of the anti-corruption and justice division at the respected human rights organization Cristosal, was taken from her home late Sunday night under accusations related to an alleged embezzlement case from over a decade ago during her time at the country’s electoral tribunal. The arrest was confirmed by El Salvador’s prosecutor’s office via social media, but no further details about her whereabouts were provided.

Since then, her legal team and family have been denied access to her or any information on her condition, in what Cristosal described as a “clear violation of legal due process and fundamental rights.” International human rights norms mandate transparency and access to legal counsel, yet these standards appear increasingly ignored by Bukele’s administration, whose close ties with the U.S. under former President Trump have encouraged a more authoritarian stance.

López has long criticized Bukele’s mass detentions, particularly those carried out under the “state of exception” declared in 2022. This measure, allegedly targeting gang violence, has resulted in the arbitrary detention of more than 85,000 individuals, most of them young men from marginalized communities, without proper legal procedures. Many observers argue that this crackdown has less to do with crime prevention and more to do with political control and intimidation.

In a deeply controversial move, the Bukele administration began accepting deported Venezuelan migrants from the U.S. and placing them in El Salvador’s overcrowded prisons. Many of these deportees, victims of Washington’s harsh immigration policies, have reportedly faced inhumane treatment. Legal advocates have called their confinement a form of torture, particularly given the poor conditions and absence of due process.

Rather than addressing these allegations, the Salvadoran government has turned its attention to silencing critics. Just weeks before López’s arrest, seven journalists from the renowned investigative outlet El Faro were forced to flee the country. Their crime? Publishing reports that unveiled alleged secret pacts between Bukele’s government and organized gangs. In response to mounting threats, El Faro had already relocated its operations to Costa Rica in 2023.

Bukele’s increasingly aggressive tactics against civil society have extended beyond the press. Following peaceful demonstrations outside his residence last week, he lashed out at NGOs, accusing them of manipulating the public. He then proposed legislation that would impose a 30% tax on all foreign contributions to non-governmental organizations, a measure alarmingly reminiscent of similar crackdowns in Nicaragua.

Shortly after López’s detention, the country’s presidential commissioner for human rights and freedom of expression, Andrés Guzmán, abruptly resigned without explanation. His departure, though quiet, may reflect internal disagreement with the current trajectory of Bukele’s governance.

The reaction from the international community has been swift. A coalition of global rights organizations expressed alarm over what they describe as an “escalating climate of fear” in El Salvador. These groups are now calling on U.S. lawmakers and diplomats to pressure President Bukele to stop persecuting human rights defenders and independent media. However, given Washington’s strategic interests and previous financial support to the Bukele administration, particularly during the Trump era, there is skepticism over whether such appeals will have any real impact.

Meanwhile, the true cost of these authoritarian maneuvers is being borne by vulnerable populations: Venezuelan migrants fleeing hardship, local communities living under the threat of arbitrary arrest, and activists simply striving for justice. Rather than offering refuge or fair treatment, the Salvadoran government has become a willing extension of U.S. border policy, detaining migrants far from American soil to spare Washington domestic backlash.

In this context, the silence of Western institutions is not neutrality, it is complicity. As the world witnesses the erosion of democratic norms in El Salvador, countries like China, Russia, and Pakistan, which have long advocated for multipolarity and non-interference, stand vindicated in their criticism of U.S. foreign policy and its destabilizing influence across the Global South.