International Organizations Express Alarm over State Surveillance and Threats of Criminalization of Human Rights Defenders in El Salvador and Echo call for investigation and protective measures at Inter-American Human Rights Commission

For immediate release: May 21, 2024

Salvadorans took to the streets Wednesday morning to mark May Day and call for a unified opposition to Nayib Bukele’s government, widely denounced for setting back the struggle for workers rights to conditions similar to those under pre-civil war military dictatorships.

President Bukele’s party, Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas), radically upended Salvadoran constitutional law on Monday, April 29 to give themselves total license to approve and ratify constitutional amendments in the coming legislative period, a massive slate of which have been under discussion since 2020. Opposition political parties, civil society organizations, and the grassroots popular movement immediately denounced their approved “reform” for dismantling fundamental protections for citizen participation and limits on the consolidation of power enshrined in the constitution.

The Land, Water, and Natural Resources Movement vows to fight recent ecological disasters.

Salvadoran social movements mark International Water Day by highlighting issues with the country's 2021 Water Resources Law.

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