“For many years, in this space our readers have found critical journalism with a stated intention to understand the political and social phenomena that determine the lives of Salvadorans and Central Americans. Among them, we have also explained the gangs, their origin and their excessive development in the north of Central America, how they subdued a part of the population and with which politicians and governments they secretly had agreements. Without an independent press, citizens would never have known about these pacts. Continuing to reveal those pacts […] is now a crime that can be punished with up to 15 years in prison in El Salvador.
The amendments to the Penal Code, approved this week by the Assembly of Nayib Bukele, are a gag on freedom of the press and freedom of expression. But above all to the citizen's right to be informed. What should Salvadorans know about gangs? Nothing, according to the regime. [...] This new law, at the express request of the president of the republic, comes when democratic life has already been dismantled and the regime tries to hide by all means its own negotiations with criminal groups and its corruption.
[…]
Today, in protest against this gag law, we have shut down our home page. El Salvador paid a very high price to obtain our freedoms. We cannot allow them to be taken from us by a regime that seeks to keep citizens in the dark. Tomorrow you will find here what we have done and continue to do: journalism. Today we protest.”
Read the original statement (in Spanish)
