CIS Mid Year Letter - July 2025
Dear Friends,
It is with a heavy heart that we write this letter, as the sea change in El Salvador in May of this year has deepened authoritarianism and made it difficult for those working for justice and human rights. We are committed to work for education and leadership development for youth, empowerment and enterprises for women, clean water and the environment, English and Spanish cultural exchanges, and defense of human rights as long as we are able. Our ability to work in solidarity with marginal communities may change due to the new Foreign Agent law passed in May of this year. Despite these challenges, moments of hope and solidarity continue to shine through our work and partnerships.
CIS visits with St. Patrick’s Church delegation in February
In February, we were grateful to receive the St. Patrick’s Church delegation, whose visit offered hope and renewed energy to our ongoing initiatives. Their presence in communities fostered much-needed dialogue and mutual understanding, providing encouragement to the youth and families involved in our programs. These personal exchanges are a lifeline, reminding us that we are not alone in our efforts, and that international solidarity can transcend borders even in challenging times. Their commitment to bearing witness and amplifying the stories of those affected by current policies is more important than ever.
The Challenge for NGOs in El Salvador
For the past three years, in the government war on gangs which we have been reporting on, the government has arbitrarily arrested more than 85,000 people – some gang members, but also thousands of innocents criminalized simply for being poor, for having a mental illness, or being victim of someone calling in an anonymous tip line, often called in by criminals and their families to detract attention from themselves. The victims of this policy do not have the right to due process, the right to communicate with their lawyer, the right to communicate with their family, and have been victims of torture and abuses for over three years. The State of Exception is aconstitutional provision that permits the suspension of constitutional rights for 30 days in cases of war or extreme emergency. But it has become permanent, renewed for 40 months consecutively.
In May of this year, the government’s Regime of Exception shifted from arresting alleged gang members to arresting human rights defenders, lawyers and journalists who are outspoken critics of government policy. That is, anyone daring to expose the truth. Up until now the president has effectively controlled the narrative by not allowing almost anyone out of prison or any family members, lawyers, press, or independent verification teams into the prisons. The 8,000 innocents the government released in the first year represents roughly 10% of those arrested, when President Bukele stated there was only a 1% margin of error. He stopped freeing innocents when those released began to tell of the horrors inside the prison and it would mar his image admitting thousands of more innocents are still being held. The only prison that allows outsiders in with guided tours is the new Terrorist Confinement Center (CECOT) - showing multiple images of tattooed condemned gang members. Most people inside and outside of the country are unaware that the gang members in these images were arrested and condemned before the Regime of Exception and most even before President Bukele came to power. These images are President Bukele’s presentation card, and the main reason for his popularity in and outside of the country for being tough on crime. However, popularity for these policies began to plummet when Bukele offered President Trump space for U.S. criminals. When President Trump sent 268 Venezuelans – most of whom are migrants, many with legal status in the U.S., and only 12 criminals the belief that only criminals were being held and the horrific images of conditions in the prisons, opinions began to change.
Visit of RFK Human Rights to El Salvador in April, shortly before the arrest of Ruth Lopez, human rights and anti-corruption lawyer for NGO Cristosal, and Ingrid Escobar, Director of the Humanitarian Legal Aid office (SJH).
Later in May, 300 families who were being forcibly displaced organized a peaceful protest near President Bukele’s residence and where the government has purchased four additional lots and the road to build a new presidential palace. The young lawyer from the Forum for Water and Community Pastor who accompanied them were arrested. In revenge and blaming the protest on NGOs, the following day Bukele announced the Foreign Agents Law, which could tax non-profit Non-Governmental Organizations 30% on all international donations received. Organizations that receive funds from outside of El Salvador are required to register as foreign agents. NGOs can apply for an exclusion to paying the 30%, which may be given to organizations who are not critical of government policies, who do not defend human rights or democracy, or who do not publish investigations of educational, health, poverty, or other social conditions. But such exceptions are discretionary; no one knows how the law will be applied. The law gives the government sweeping powers to take away the legal status of organizations and confiscate their assets.
The CIS will be taking measures to protect our solidarity work. This will include reprioritizing our solidarity work for empowerment and development of communities and deprioritizing an
organizational presence defending human rights or observing elections. We have taken measures to protect funds for scholarships and leadership development, which is CIS’s most transformative program and largest part of our annual budget. We will be registering as a Foreign Agent this month, and if we pass that filter, we will apply for an exclusion from the 30% tax on international donations to community programs. Since this is happening quickly, and the application of the law is not clear, presumably we will be making adjustments to continue our solidarity mission.
The Salvadoran people need your continued solidarity:
Write your congresspersons: representatives and senators and ask them to make aid and loans to El Salvador contingent upon overturning Legislative Decree #308 Foreign Agents Law, which threatens the right to organize, free speech, and humanitarian aid to El Salvador.
Continue to visit El Salvador: Organize delegations to learn about the reality firsthand and accompany communities and scholarship students, teach English, study Spanish, or other solidarity exchanges. Be witnesses to the reality.
Be the voice of defense of human rights and democracy: Share information on social media, organize events including invitations for Salvadorans to come and share testimonies in person or in virtual forums. Salvadorans are subject to persecution if they speak out and we will rely more on our international friends and supporters to bring light to the reality in El Salvador.
Donate to CIS Scholarship and Leadership Development program, through Los OLIVOS CIS donations or directly if you have a local program in your church, foundation, or community group. Education and leadership development will give tools to Salvadorans to build democracy, human rights, economic, and social justice.
Donate to LOS OLIVOS CIS so we can take the measures and administrative steps needed to continue our solidarity work. We will continue to make the voices of victims of the Regime of Exception heard on the international level as options for justice.
CIS delegation accompanied families to purchase basic needs packages to the prison where families are expected to provide food, medicine, hygiene, clothing, cleaning supplies, and work clothes each month to loved ones arbitrarily arrested – a huge financial hardship for already economically marginalized families.
Solidarity Visits Abroad help build partnerships and bring awareness to the international community
CIS and Socorro Juridico Humanitario (SJH) visit to the United Nations Human Rights Headquarters in Geneva in January. Ingrid, SJH Director, on the left has had to go into exile with her two young children. On the right, Marcela’s father was falsely accused of gang collaboration and later executed in prison. She presented her case to the UN Commission on Torture. The majority of Salvadorans fear speaking out in El Salvador.
CIS and Cardenal Rosa Chavez visit St. Sabina Parish in Kansas City for the 35th Anniversary of St. Romero’s martyrdom, and to renew Romero’s commitment for social and economic justice.