Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s popularity shows that Latin American governments are falling short. They should redouble their efforts to provide rights-respecting strategies to tackle the root causes of much criminality
The country’s president warned there will be no let-up on his war on criminal groups as a massive security deployment aims to cut off the province of Cabañas
The president of the Central American country has imposed a ‘state of exception,’ which gives him unprecedented powers. He has removed citizens’ rights, imposed censorship and consolidated an authoritarian system. Bukele argues that these measures are necessary to put an end to rampant violence
The change formalizes a practice that the Salvadoran justice system had already been carrying out. Critics warn that the move violates people’s right to a fair trial
The maximum security mega-complex will be located in a Caribbean archipelago. ‘The idea is for criminals to lose touch with everything,’ says the government
The State Department warns that it ‘will consider all available tools to deter and disrupt anti-democratic activity’ in Central American countries
The director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch regrets that the final declaration of the EU-CELAC summit does not openly condemn the region’s authoritarian regimes
Diego Molano and Jaime Arizabaleta, pre-candidates for the mayoralties of Bogotá and Cali, have proposed building prisons inspired by Nayib Bukele’s crusade against crime
The Salvadoran president formalized his candidacy for re-election this Sunday, despite the fact that the Constitution prohibits him from doing so. Amid criticism for his authoritarian model, he has defended himself, saying ‘I am not a dictator’
Mothers, sisters and wives of at least 35 unjustly detained people in El Salvador ask the government of Gustavo Petro to help them guarantee the human rights of their relatives
The country has started a Nayib Bukele-inspired mass sweep of prisons and arrested a suspect in a pool-hall shooting last week that killed 11 people
The Constitutional Chamber of the country’s Supreme Court, handpicked by his supporters in congress, ruled in 2021 that his candidacy for reelection was permitted and ordered the electoral court to allow it
William Maloney, the World Bank’s chief economist for the region, talks about the impact of inflation, the threat of climate change and the growing influence of China in the area
The mass arrests ordered by the president have forced women to take on heavier burdens. They have been looking after imprisoned relatives, while acting as caregivers for children and the elderly
The former Ecuadorian president is not ruling out convening a Constituent Assembly to invalidate the 2018 referendum that prevents him from running for reelection
The Salvadoran president’s formula has become well-known to citizens across Latin America, and the tough-talking, Bitcoin-loving leader enjoys approval ratings the envy of any world leader
Three journalists from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala provide a first-person account of what it’s like to continue reporting on reality despite the authoritarian onslaught in the region and the criminalization of their work
To the chagrin of the West, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva strongly defends his own position, whether that be on Venezuela or China
The former leader has taken refuge in Nicaragua, where he has been granted citizenship. He claims the sentence is ‘unfair’ and lacks evidence
Cristosal, the primary human rights organization in the Central American country, describes a regime of terror through interviews of hundreds of people who were mistakenly arrested or freed after being declared innocent
The incident happened at Monumental stadium in Cuscatlan, a town about 25 miles (41 kilometers) northeast of the capital, San Salvador
A survey found that 55% of Colombians would like to have a president like the one in El Salvador; meanwhile, some local candidates are promising to import his rigid security model
The president ordered the mobilization of more than 5,000 military and 500 police officers in a new show of force. ‘They will pay dearly for the assassination of our hero,’ he warned
As the U.S. prepares for the end of Title 42 restrictions, officials have released few details about who would be eligible for the immigration permissions known as family reunification parole
Under the agreement, Mexico will continue to accept migrants from Venezuela, Haiti, Cuba and Nicaragua who are turned away at the border
José Wilfredo Ayala, second-in-command of the notorious MS-13 criminal organization and one the FBI’s most wanted fugitives, faces multiple charges in New York
Violence and organized crime are on the rise across the region, upending government plans and putting citizens on alert
