Dear John,

This week began with deeply troubling news out of El Salvador: our friend and colleague Ruth López, a leading lawyer and human rights defender with Cristosal, was arbitrarily detained and temporarily disappeared. Her arrest is the latest sign of El Salvador’s accelerating descent into authoritarianism.

At WOLA, we worked around the clock to raise alarm bells. We issued a joint statement demanding her immediate release and condemning this blatant criminalization of independent voices. We also activated our networks in Washington and across the region, urging policymakers to speak out and demand due process for Ruth. Read the full statement here.

Ruth’s commitment to justice and democratic accountability is undeniable. Just last year, she was named one of the BBC’s 100 most influential women. And this past March, we had the honor of speaking with her on our podcast as part of our International Women’s Month series—an episode that now feels all the more urgent and powerful. Listen to the episode here. 

But the attacks did not stop there. Just two days after Ruth’s arrest, Nayib Bukele’s supermajority in the Legislative Assembly, passed a dangerous foreign agents law, one that will impose a punitive 30% tax on civil society organizations receiving international funding. This comes at a time when civic space has little oxygen as the result of  the sudden loss of U.S. assistance earlier this year.

WOLA continues to push back on these dangerous developments. In Washington this week, we hosted Óscar Martínez, editor at El Faro, and facilitated meetings with members of Congress and their staffers to discuss the criminalization of independent media and the broader situation of El Salvador’s democracy. We also brought together journalists, advocates, and analysts at our office to deepen the conversation on the ongoing erosion of democratic space in El Salvador.

And we’re not stopping there. We’ve lent our support to a new U.S. Senate bill that would impose targeted sanctions on officials in the Bukele government involved in human rights violations. Diplomatic tools like these are more vital than ever to support accountability and protect those defending the rule of law.

In the face of these mounting threats, we remain inspired by the courage of our partners in El Salvador. As Ruth López was being detained, she said: “Have some decency. This will end one day.”

Her words are a reminder that authoritarianism is not inevitable—and that the struggle to defend democracy continues.

Sincerely,

Ana María Méndez Dardón

Director for Central America

Father Albeiro Parra Solís, Jennifer Chavarro Quino, Pablo Cala, and Nora Isabel Saladarriaga

For human rights activists across Latin America right now, the stakes are high. Violence around elections is on the rise, as are threats against those who speak in favor of justice and accountability.

Your support of WOLA creates space to amplify the voices of those who put their life on the line to champion human rights; from Caracas, to San Salvador, and everywhere in between.

“International organizations denounce the detention of Ruth Lopez, a member of Cristosal in El Salvador, who is reportedly a victim of enforced disappearance. We demand full respect for her rights and verifiable information on her whereabouts. Defending human rights is not a crime.” This article is in Spanish.

Carolina Jiménez Sandoval

President

– Los Angeles Times, Organismos internacionales abogan por defensora de derechos humanos arrestada en El Salvador

"That a government would dare to suspend the right to due process - which is clearly enshrined in the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, and which applies to citizens and residents alike - is a grave threat to society as a whole. Many immigrants have lived in the United States for decades, have children there, and contribute to the economy of their community. Depriving them of a basic and universal right simply because of their immigration status reveals a problem in the rule of law. It would be bad news and a warning about the health of U.S. democracy.” This article is in Spanish.

Carolina Jiménez Sandoval

President

– Deutsche Welle, "Una alerta sobre salud de la democracia en Estados Unidos"

"This is a dramatic amping up of the Bukele regime’s attacks on civil society. Bukele is doing precisely what rights groups have long predicted he would do: deploying his near absolute power not just against presumed gang members but against anyone he perceives as a threat to his power. His enormous popularity – largely the result of declining violence and his hard-line anti-gang policies – has allowed him to do this with little repercussion."

Jo-Marie Burt

Senior Fellow

– InSight Crime, El Salvador’s Anti-Gang Crackdown Now Has Political Opponents in Its Crosshairs

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