In February, President Nayib Bukele secured a landslide victory for a second term (2024-2029), despite a constitutional prohibition on immediate re-election. His party, Nuevas Ideas, secured a legislative supermajority in part thanks to favorable electoral reforms.
Since taking office in 2019, Bukele’s administration has systematically dismantled democratic institutions and concentrated power in the executive branch. A state of emergency enacted in March 2022 remains in effect, suspending constitutional rights. Authorities have committed widespread abuses, including mass arbitrary detentions, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment of detainees, and due process violations. Gang-related violence has markedly declined.
Free and Fair Elections
In February, Nayib Bukele won a second term with over 80 percent of votes despite a constitutional ban on immediate reelection. Candidates of the ruling Nuevas Ideas party secured 54 of 60 of the Legislative Assembly seats. This landslide followed a 2021 ruling by the Supreme Court, which the Assembly had packed with allies, allowing Bukele to run for re-election.
An Organization of American States (OAS) observation mission that monitored the election raised concerns about the fairness of the process, citing uneven campaign financing, media access, and use of state resources. They also raised concerns about reforms that threatened judicial independence and about holding elections during a prolonged state of emergency.
Before the elections, the Legislative Assembly passed reforms that favored larger parties, making it easier for the ruling party to consolidate power. These changes included reducing Legislative Assembly seats from 84 to 60 and changes to the formula for the allocation of legislative seats. Additionally, the number of municipalities was cut from 262 to 44.
In September, the Legislative Assembly elected all five Supreme Electoral Tribunal (TSE) judges for a five-year term. The opaque selection process and the apparent lack of independence of some elected judges raised alarms about the electoral authority’s independence.
Security Policies
A state of emergency adopted in March 2022 suspending certain basic rights, including due process protections, had been extended 30 times and remained in force at time of writing.
In 2022, the Assembly passed a set of criminal law amendments that increased the maximum prison sentence for the crime of “unlawful association” to 10 years for children aged 12 to 15, and up to 20 years for those aged 16 to 18. Subsequent legal changes have also allowed for mass trials and expanded the use of mandatory pretrial detention.
Under the state of emergency, police and soldiers have conducted hundreds of indiscriminate raids, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, arresting over 81,000 people, including more than 3,000 children. Authorities reported in August 2023 that 7,000 people had been released from prison since the start of the state of emergency.
Local and international human rights groups have documented mass arbitrary detention, torture, and, in some cases, sexual violence against women and girls in detention, and enforced disappearances. Authorities have not reported charging, indicting or convicting any police or military officers in connection with these abuses. In a September report, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), found “reports” of “widespread and systematic human rights violations” and urged authorities to “end the state of emergency.”
Many detainees have no apparent connections to gang-related violence. Arrests often appear to be based on the detainees’ appearance and anonymous complaints, rather than on evidence. Security forces routinely fail to present warrants or provide reasons for arrests. Many detentions appear to have been driven by a policy of “quotas” imposed by commanders of the National Civil Police.
Mass imprisonment has raised El Salvador’s prison population to an estimated 108,000 detainees, exceeding the prison capacity by 38,000, and worsening already poor prison conditions. An alarming 1.7 percent of the country’s population is now detained.
At least 261 detainees have died in prison during the state of emergency, Cristosal, a human rights group, reported in July. Attorney General Rodolfo Delgado said in June 2023 that 142 investigations into deaths in custody had been closed.
In January, El Salvador rejected a request for a visit by the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.
Gang Violence
Gang violence has decreased significantly. For decades, gangs exerted territorial control over areas throughout the country, committing homicides, forced recruitment of children, rapes and sexual assaults, abductions, extortion, and displacement.
The country’s longstanding high homicide rate, which peaked at 105 per 100,000 people in 2015, has sharply diminished since 2019, reaching a historic low in 2023, according to official figures. Extortion cases have also decreased, authorities reported.
Previous administrations alternated between secret gang negotiations and harsh security measures, both leading to renewed violence and rights violations.
Before the state of emergency, the Bukele administration reportedly negotiated with gangs, offering privileges for reduced homicides and electoral support. Failed talks with MS-13 gang allegedly triggered a March 2022 violence surge.
Some gang leaders who had been convicted and sentenced to prison in El Salvador were identified and arrested abroad. César Humberto López Larios, a high-ranking MS-13 leader, was captured in Mexico and extradited to the US in June. Elmer “Crook” Canales, another prominent MS-13 leader, was released while serving a 40-year sentence in El Salvador in November 2021, and allegedly escorted to Guatemala by a government official. A year later, Mexican authorities detained Canales and placed him under custody of US authorities, which had indicted him in 2020.
The media also reported that in November 2021, a prominent MS-13 leader, Elmer Canales, known as “Crook,” was released from prison, where he was serving a 40-year sentence. He was reportedly escorted to Guatemala by a high-level government official. In November, Canales was detained by Mexican authorities and sent to the US where he was placed in custody.
Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights
According to government figures, 27 percent of El Salvador’s population lived below the national income poverty line in 2023, an increase of 0.4 percent from 2022. Nearly 9 percent of the population lived in extreme poverty.
In 2023, Salvadorans aged 6 and above completed an average of 7.3 years of schooling, with significant disparities between rural areas (5.6 years) and urban areas (8.3 years). Additionally, 21.5 percent of Salvadorans aged 15 to 24 were neither employed nor in school in 2023. Among people aged 16 to 18, 30 percent were not attending school in 2023, a five percent decrease from 2022. Of those aged 60 and older, 28 percent could not read or write.
Judicial Independence and Rule of Law
The Bukele administration has undermined the rule of law, including by packing the courts and approving legislative changes that expand government control over the judiciary.
In September, the Legislative Assembly elected seven new judges to the Supreme Court of Justice. Civil society organizations criticized lack of transparency in the process and raised concerns about the candidates’ lack of independence.
The Public Defender’s Office, which has long been overwhelmed with its caseload, faced layoffs. As of April, there were 281 public defenders, each representing an average of 281 cases resulting from the state of emergency. In September, 400 workers in the Public Defender’s Office, including over 130 public defenders, were forced to resign.
In April, the Legislative Assembly moved forward with a reform to the constitutional amendment process. The reform allowed a single legislature to change the constitution with a three-quarters majority vote.
In January, lawmakers amended the Special Law Against Terrorism to grant the Attorney General the authority to add individuals and organizations to a “national terrorist list” without judicial oversight.
In May 2021, pro-Bukele lawmakers summarily removed and replaced the attorney general and all five judges of the Supreme Court’s Constitutional Chamber. In September 2021, legislators passed laws allowing the Supreme Court and the attorney general to dismiss judges and prosecutors who are aged 60 and older. The new laws also expanded their powers to transfer all judges and prosecutors to new posts. The laws contradict international human rights standards on judicial independence and have been used to dismiss or transfer independent judges or prosecutors.
Transparency and Anti-Corruption
El Salvador faces significant challenges in transparency, with the current administration severely restricting access to public information. According to Cristosal, over 73 percent of information requests are denied or ignored, while authorities’ excessive classification of public interest information, burdensome filing requirements, and a weakened oversight institute hinder access. This lack of transparency enables potential corruption and limits citizen oversight.
El Salvador’s score on Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, which measures perceived public sector corruption globally, has fallen sharply from 36 in 2020 to a 12-year low of 31 in 2023.
The Supreme Court has classified President Bukele’s asset declaration, departing from previous practice. According to an investigation by the news outlets Redacción Regional, Focos and Dromómanos, Bukele and his family acquired 363 hectares of land during his first presidential term. Another investigation by the same media outlets revealed that Bukele’s brother and chief advisor, Karim Bukele, purchased a building in San Salvador’s historic center for US$1.3 million just three months after the Legislative Assembly passed a law exempting investors in that area from taxes.
Freedoms of Expression and Association
The government has created a hostile environment for journalists, union leaders, and civil society activists. Officials have attempted to discredit the work of journalists and civil society organizations, including by labeling them as “gang defenders.”
In October, police harassed and intimidated the mother of independent journalist Ricardo Vaquerano following the publication of an investigation in Gato Encerrado media outlet about a network of police officers linked to hundreds of murders.
In October, teacher and union leader Idalia Zúniga was dismissed after participating in a protest against proposed US$121 million cuts to the 2025 budgets of the health and education ministries. As of November, 74 people had been dismissed, most from the Health Ministry; many reportedly after participating in protests.
In September, a news outlet revealed audio recordings of Alejandro Muyshondt, a former Bukele national security advisor who died in custody in February under circumstances that have not been adequately investigated. Muyshondt and Ernesto Castro, then-Bukele’s private secretary, were heard discussing plans to spy on journalists, news outlets, and political opponents.
The Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES) reported 311 “press freedom violations” during 2023, including digital harassment, stigmatizing statements targeting journalists, and restrictions on journalists’ work and access to public information. Between March and May, APES reported 50 press freedom violations.
Between January 2022 and August 2024, five journalists went into exile fearing reprisals for their work, while sixteen others left the country temporarily, according to APES.
Access to Abortion
El Salvador criminalizes abortion under all circumstances. For years courts have also convicted women who have suffered abortions or obstetric emergencies on charges of qualified homicide and sentenced them with up to 50 years in prison. The last woman serving a prison sentence for qualified homicide was released last November, following advocacy by feminist organizations. As of January, there were 11 women being prosecuted for abortion-related crimes.
In March 2023, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held a hearing on the case of Beatriz, who was denied abortion by El Salvador in 2013 despite her high-risk pregnancy. The ruling remained pending at time of writing.
Gender and Sexuality
In February, the Health Ministry ordered the removal of all official material that referred to “sexual diversity” and “LGTBI” People. This reportedly included information related to sexually transmitted infections and medical forms that previously allowed for patients to indicate their gender identity. The Education Ministry also ordered the removal of all material related to “gender ideology,” a catch-all and vague term often used to discredit the rights of women and LGBT people.
In May, the new Legislative Assembly eliminated several specialized legislative commissions, including its Commission on Women and Gender Equality, in existence since 2009.
El Salvador does not allow same-sex marriage or legal gender recognition for transgender people and lacks comprehensive anti-LGBT discrimination legislation. The legislature continues to ignore a 2022 Supreme Court order to create a legal gender recognition procedure that would allow trans people to change their names on identity documents.