Overview

• Cristosal evacuated 20 of its 21 in-country staff to Guatemala and Honduras after concluding that continued operations in El Salvador posed a criminal risk.
• Only anti-corruption director Ruth López remains in El Salvador, jailed since May under sealed enrichment charges denounced as politically motivated.
• A May law requires NGOs with international funding to register as foreign agents and pay a 30 percent tax, exposing noncompliant groups to criminal prosecution.
• Dozens of other human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists have fled El Salvador facing police harassment, Pegasus spyware surveillance and the threat of arrest.
• President Bukele continues to enjoy about an 85 percent approval rating tied to a 90 percent drop in homicides even as independent oversight and judicial independence erode.