San Salvador, May 20 (H.S.): Ruth Eleonora Lopez, a notable lawyer and vocal critic of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, has been arrested, leading to widespread condemnation from human rights organizations. They allege her arrest was initiated by Bukele to demonstrate the increasing authoritarianism in the nation. The Attorney General’s office claims Lopez, who leads the anti-corruption unit at the rights organization Cristosal, collaborated in the theft of state treasury funds.

Authorities conducted a raid that resulted in her arrest without informing her family of her location. Lopez’s mother and husband held a press conference, arguing that the authorities misled them regarding the reason for her detention, initially citing a traffic accident as the pretext. They expressed concern as they were not allowed to see the warrant and remain uninformed about her situation apart from the charges announced on social media. Abraham Abrego from Cristosal highlighted that Lopez’s arrest underscores the government’s willingness to suppress dissent and violate human rights, with her current detention site undisclosed. Lopez has criticized the Bukele administration for its transparency issues and condemned the repressive state of emergency measures aimed at combating crime.

She was recognized by the BBC in its list of 100 influential women in 2024. Bukele has enacted controversial policies since taking office in 2019, including a prolonged state of emergency that has led to about 87,000 arrests. International entities like Amnesty International criticized Lopez’s arrest, asserting that the state of emergency is being misused to stifle opposing voices.

Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar