State of emergency in El Salvador | "El Salvador's civilian population has lost basic rights"

Bukele's heavy hand is popular: with the Center for the Detention of Terrorists (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador has become a role model in Central America. Photo: AFP/Marvin Recinos El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has been governing since March 2022 under a state of emergency, which the parliament, which is subordinate to him, approved. On October 13, Bukele announced at a press conference that the government would release thousands of prisoners. A commission will examine the cases and release up to half of the 93,000 people who have been arrested since the state of emergency was declared and who are accused of cooperating with gangs. What do you think of the spectacular announcement?

On the one hand, this announcement is positive, but Nayib Bukele is talking about “collaboradores”, i.e. accomplices, helpers, not innocent people. All human rights organizations I know point out that thousands of innocent people are in prison for months - many for years. They are held on the basis of often dubious suspicions, often without solid evidence - this is incompatible with international legal standards.

  Ingrid Escobar is a lawyer from La Unión in El Salvador and director of the human rights NGO Socorro Jurídico Humanitario (Humanitarian Legal Aid). In June 2025 she fled with her two children via Guatemala to the USA, and after months of uncertainty she finally received asylum in Mexico. She is 43 years old, studied education and law, is currently working on her doctoral thesis and is a renowned critic of Nayib Bukele's government.

Do you have confidence in the country's legal system?

No, because it is de facto under the political control of the Bukele government. The president has announced the release of the prisoners. But that is definitely the job of the judiciary - not that of an authoritarian president.

The government promotes the slogan that El Salvador is the safest country in the Western world - what do you think of that?

If that were true, the government could lift the state of emergency, right? However, this is not the case in El Salvador - an enormous contradiction.

The state of emergency has been extended monthly by Parliament for more than four years - what are the consequences?

The permanent state of emergency has changed life in El Salvador because, according to the government, there is more security, fewer murders and less gang activity, but the civilian population has also lost basic rights. Under the regulations of the state of emergency, the criminalization of unpopular people is much easier. Social rights, environmental rights and civil rights are restricted and in some cases no longer play a role. The population lives with the terror of state institutions, all of which are controlled by the Bukele government. The president is now running for re-election for the second time - although the constitution prohibits direct re-election.

What other negative effects does the state of emergency have?

He ensures that the government has the opportunity to hide things, acts less transparently and does not have to release information - this plays into the hands of an administration that has been facing corruption allegations for years.

Is there any evidence of the corruption surrounding the Bukele family?

Yes, I and the entire opposition, which mostly operates in exile, refer to investigative research by critical and renowned media such as “El Faro”, “Factum” and others. They have been collecting the evidence and, like “El Faro,” have been working from exile since May 2025 – because their reporters are being criminalized in El Salvador. According to El Faro's research, the Bukele family has increased its property twelve times over the past few years: They have taken over large coffee companies, stretches of beach, historic buildings in city centers - how does that happen? In El Salvador, every report of corruption also poses a risk – for the safety of the person making the report. The majority of the critical population lives in constant fear and hardly expresses themselves any more.

Under the conditions of the state of emergency, parliamentary and presidential elections should be held in February 2027, right?

Yes. Everything points to that. In our opinion, the state of emergency will be extended. To make matters worse, six constitutional provisions were changed despite or because of the state of emergency. This is questionable from a legal perspective. Bukele's re-election was not constitutional in 2024, nor will it be in 2027. But he has the support of the USA.

They had to flee El Salvador very quickly in June 2025. Her brother was arrested and died in prison. They took this as a warning and fled. Do you have a secure status today?

Yes, I traveled to the USA via Guatemala and Mexico. I received medical treatment in Texas and then traveled back to Mexico because I was offered political asylum there. I wouldn't have received that in the US. In Mexico I am now doing my job as director of the human rights NGO Socorro Jurídico Humanitario (Humanitarian Legal Aid, ed.). We are currently preparing, together with other non-governmental organizations, an event with the Inter-American Court about the perversion of the law in El Salvador. It will take place at the end of October.

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