CISPES Statement on Arrest of Grassroots Opposition Leaders of the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador

Between late Thursday night and early Friday morning, police in El Salvador arrested eight leaders of the prominent opposition group Alianza Nacional El Salvador en Paz (National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador). Among them were two historic leaders of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), José Santos Melara and Atilio Montalvo, one of the signers of the 1992 Peace Accords.

Their arrests come in the lead-up to Nayib Bukele’s inauguration on Saturday, June 1 for an unconstitutional second term, and constitute a flagrant attempt to intimidate and stifle the grassroots opposition. The Alianza and other popular social movement groups have been calling on Salvadorans and solidarity activists around the world to protest against Bukele’s abuses of power.

In light of the suspension of basic rights under the ongoing State of Exception, there is significant concern that the leaders, all of whom are older, will not have access to attorneys or basic medical care while held in El Salvador’s overcrowded and overburdened prison system. Adding to the urgency of the matter, Atilio Montalvo recently underwent heart surgery and needs routine dialysis.

The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) condemns this blatant attack on opposition leaders, the latest example of political persecution under Bukele. We reject the attempt to vilify social movement leaders as terrorists when the reality is that it is the Salvadoran government who terrorizes marginalized communities, activists, and journalists on a daily basis.

We demand the immediate release of all eight organizers. We also call for an end to the attacks on grassroots leaders and repressive tactics intended to stifle dissent. We call on the U.S. State Department to echo the call for their release and to halt assistance to Salvadoran military and police.

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Click here to send an email to the State Department and to your Rep and Senators in Congress calling on them to speak out against these unjust arrests and call for their release.