We reject the unjust ruling against Lorena Peña!
CISPES once again expresses our solidarity with Lorena Peña, lifelong feminist activist and leader within El Salvador’s leftist party, the Farabundo Marti Liberation Front (FMLN) and her daughter following a civil court’s outrageous decision this week to uphold the Attorney General’s unfounded accusations of illicit enrichment.
Given that: 1) the prosecution failed to show evidence of its principal allegation, 2) the court refused to admit more than half of the exculpatory evidence presented by defense lawyers, and 3) the funds in question were not public funds to begin with, we denounce both the violation of their right to a fair process and the clear instrumentalization of the justice system to attempt to silence a historic feminist leader who has been a strong voice against the corruption and violence of the Bukele regime.
On the eve of International Working Women’s Day, and as Nayib Bukele reinforces misogynistic and anti-LGBTI+ politics in El Salvador, it is worth noting that Lorena Peña dedicated her political career as a deputy within El Salvador’s legislative assembly to accompanying the demands of El Salvador’s feminist and LGBTI+ rights groups, leading in the areas of violence against and discrimination of women, decriminalization of abortion, and the gender identity law.
Today, we reiterate the concerns raised on March 8, 2023 by more than 65 human rights, Salvadoran diaspora, women's, and international solidarity organizations regarding the Bukele regime’s abuse of the justice system in El Salvador to politically persecute Lorena Peña and other historic leftists leaders. We echo their call: “to El Salvador’s judiciary branch not to act in submission to the Bukele administration’s political agenda but to fulfill their mandate to uphold the law; for the state to respect and uphold Lorena Peña’s constitutionally and internationally protected rights to due process; and on the Salvadoran government to cease its lawfare tactics against Lorena Peña and other political opponents.”
#HandsOffLorenaPeña
#LorenaNoEstaSola
"I am a CISPES supporter because continuing to fight for social justice and a more people-centered country means continuing the dream and sacrifice of thousands of my fellow Salvadorans who died for that vision.” - Padre Carlos, New York City
