"Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's crackdown on dissident voices in El Salvador has reached a point of no return. This Tuesday [May 20], the Legislative Assembly, under the president's absolute control, approved the Foreign Agents Law, which will allow it to dictate with a single order which humanitarian organizations or independent media outlets can or cannot operate in the country. The law also stipulates that those allowed to work must register with a national registry and pay 30% of their income to the government.
The measure was announced by the president last week, following a peasant protest outside his residence. This Tuesday, Interior Minister Juan Carlos Bidegain Hanania presented it to the Legislative Assembly, where it was sponsored by Representative Christian Guevara of the ruling Nuevas Ideas party. It was approved with 95% of the votes in favor after just one hour and 24 minutes of discussion, less than the duration of a soccer game.
The law's approval comes amid the most severe crackdown on dissenting voices the Bukele administration has mounted in its six years in power. In the past three weeks, at least 15 people, including businesspeople, community leaders and activists, have been detained for political reasons and without the right to defense. The most recent was Ruth López, a prominent human rights lawyer and member of the NGO Cristosal."
