CISPES denounces the arrest of community leaders of the La Floresta Community in San Juan Opico organizing to defend their lands and community from eviction

Washington, DC | We call for the IMMEDIATE RELEASE of Medardo Arnoldo Rodriguez and Alejandra Jeannette Cañas, who were arrested on February 9, 2025. Mr. Rodriguez and Mrs. Cañas had recently been elected as leaders of the La Floresta community council in San Juan Opico, representing over one hundred families who have inhabited those lands for over fifteen years.

In May 2024, people claiming to be the owners of the land attempted, unlawfully, to force the families out. With the support of the Popular Rebellion and Resistance Bloc (BRP) and the Human and Community Rights Defense Unit (UNIDEHC), the  La Floresta community moved to strengthen its organizing and embarked on a legal battle to defend themselves from the threat of an unjust eviction. Now, the police are harassing the community and have imprisoned their elected leaders without cause. These actions are typical of the Bukele government authorities who, rather than protect victims of displacement, punish and criminalize community organizing.

On the day of the arrests, the community was taking measurements of their properties as part of the legal protections they are pursuing. Community members report that the leaders were lured into an alleged meeting with a prosecutor that never took place and then  arrested without being presented with any court order. On February 13, the BRP and UNIDEHC, along with members of the La Floresta community submitted a legal complaint against the arresting officers for “coercion, threats, arbitrary acts, and breach of duty.”

We denounce these and other arbitrary arrests as attempts by the Bukele government to instill fear in communities who dare to lawfully organize to protect themselves from those who would seize their lands.

As CISPES, we express our full solidarity with the community of La Floresta and all others organizing to defend their rights in the face of state repression in El Salvador. We join the BRP and UNIDEHC in their call for:

• the immediate release of Medardo Arnoldo Rodriguez and Alejandra Jeannette Cañas
• an end to any attempts to evict the families of the La Floresta community from their lands
• an end to the Bukele regime’s practice of criminalizing communities who organize to defend their rights and their lands.

February 18, 2025