(Originally published by The Guardian on May 29, 2025.)

The detention of a leading human rights lawyer is part of a wave of repression sweeping the country under Nayib Bukele

The Trump administration’s agreement with Nayib Bukele to detain US immigrants deported to El Salvador without due process seems to have emboldened the Salvadorian president’s autocratic regime. Last week, in a troubling sign of escalating repression, Salvadorian police detained Ruth López Alfaro, a prominent Salvadorian human rights lawyer at Cristosal, an organization fighting for human rights in Central America.

Last year, the BBC recognized López Alfaro as one of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in the world, describing her as “an outspoken critic of the country’s government and institutions” who “conducted a broad social media campaign to promote political transparency and public accountability overseen by the citizens themselves”.

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