Let's put these 2 headlines from this afternoon together. They “finish off” suspected cocaine traffickers hanging helplessly off boats in the open ocean. But an _actual_ cocaine trafficker who just happens to be a conservative political elite gets a pardon.

I started writing El Salvador Perspectives 21 years ago today. A lot has changed in the country, for better and for worse.

36 years after the massacre of six Jesuit priests and their female coworker and her daughter, the Jesuits of the UCA continue to be a voice in El Salvador for social justice and human rights. www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/11/jesu...

More reporting of the stories from those who survived Bukele's prisons. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/08/w...

An "anti-woke" curriculum in new schools in El Salvador being built by Bukele. Salvadoran public schools trail others in Latin America, and Bukele has a school-building and technology approach to changing that. www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/11/buke...

El Salvador offers the US military landing zones in addition to prison cell space. www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/w...

Human rights defenders continue imprisoned in El Salvador with court rejecting pretrial release.

The latest from El Salvador Perspectives. www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/10/wher...

Four months ago, Yessenia Ruano put her home in Wisconsin up for rent, packed a few bags and left for her native El Salvador. Now, she is among immigrant women who say ICE is wrongfully detaining and deporting domestic violence or human trafficking victims. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/u...

"Americans have been dragged, tackled, beaten, tased and shot by immigration agents. They’ve had their necks kneeled on. They’ve been held outside in the rain while in their underwear. At least three citizens were pregnant when agents detained them. " www.propublica.org/article/immi...

El Salvador’s Minister of Education has sent out an edict prohibiting the use of “inclusive language” in the country’s schools. www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/M...

BREAKING: Our client Mario Guevara, an Emmy-winning journalist detained by ICE in retaliation for livestreaming law enforcement activity, will be deported tomorrow to El Salvador. Mario and his family are being punished for his reporting. This cruelty is meant to stifle our free press.

Latest from El Salvador Perspectives www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/10/too-...

This is a long-running story from El Salvador, where miscarriages and obstetric emergencies land women in prison for years, charged with homicide. It is a cautionary tale of where abortion bans can lead. podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/f...

Journalist from El Salvador, Mario Guevara, writes from an ICE detention facility, about the ongoing violations of his human rights and dignity since his arrest in June while covering protest activity. bittersoutherner.com/journalist-m...

Mario Guevara has been detained by ICE for more than 100 days in retaliation for his reporting — even though a judge ordered his release on bond. An immigration court just ruled Mario could be deported at any moment. ICE must free him now.

Hundreds gathered at Central American University over a four-day wake to commemorate the life of Father Chema Tojeira. He was buried alongside Ignacio Ellacuría and their other Jesuit companions assassinated by the Salvadoran Army in 1989. #efPhoto beta.elfaro.net/en/ef-photo-...

The InterAmerican Commission on Human Rights ordered preventive measures surrounding the Salvadoran government's detention of anti corruption lawyer Ruth Lopez. www.oas.org/en/IACHR/jsF...

The government of Nayib Bukele in El Salvador is an expert at serving up flashy events for public consumption. www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/09/spec...

NYT Obituary of Fr. José María Tojeira www.nytimes.com/2025/09/18/w...

Congrats to @cristosal.bsky.social, honored with the 2025 William D. Zabel Human Rights Award! Despite threats and repression, they continue to provide legal & psychosocial support to survivors, defend refugees, & pursue accountability across Central America. humanrightsfirst.org/library/cris...

Through August, El Salvador has received 119 flights in 2025 returning persons deported from the US. 4th highest total behind Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico.

The challenges of the government sponsored healthcare systems in El Salvador at a time of government cutbacks required by the IMF, when you won't cut the military or prison-security complex spending www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/09/heal...

El Salvador Perspectives was on hiatus for the last several weeks. Today's post has snippets of stories about El Salvador you might have missed. www.elsalvadorperspectives.com/2025/09/catc...

Fr. José María Tojeira, S.J. (1947-2025) share.google/UXt7zonYK77d...

I think it is not an exaggeration to label P. #Tojeira as a true 20th century hero. Until the end, he was 'writing for #justice'. In one of his last columns he stated that "Water, like air, is a common good and a basic human right. Water scarcity or rising prices are an attack on human life." #UCA

Sad news from El Salvador with death of Jesuit Father Jose Maria Tojeira. He was a fellow Jesuit of those massacred at the UCA in 1989, and continued in El Salvador until the time of his death as an outspoken voice for social justice and human rights. www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/F...

It’s not just that the President of the United States posted a video of eleven people being murdered in international waters it’s that the President of the United States ordered the murder of eleven people in international waters so he could post a video of it.

It is troubling that the New York Times, NPR, CNN, LA Times, etc. are scarcely mentioning that the president, Hegseth and Rubio are bragging about executing 11 individuals at sea whom they could have captured, in violation of US and international law.

The National Guard is, in some ways, a distraction. What's going to happen in Chicago is going to be a massive ICE enforcement blitz.

El Salvador's Bukele labeled human rights group Cristosal a "foreign agent", imprisoned its top anti-corruption lawyer, and forced it into exile. But the work does not stop. Read its latest report, CORRUPTION REGIME: The Hidden Business of El Salvador’s Prison System cristosal.org/EN/wp-conten...

A good report about how the federal SCAAP program feeds data into ICE deportation machine. Some quotes from me about how we analyzed it in Wisconsin.

Crackdown on immigrant workers at a Wisconsin cheese factory triggers backlash, solidarity wisconsinexaminer.com/2025/08/29/c...

But I'm pretty sure that bad haircuts are not the root cause of poor academic performance in El Salvador. www.washingtonpost.com/world/2025/0...

The Trump admin re-arrested Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland father whom they wrongfully deported to El Salvador, after he was let out of jail and allowed to return home. ICE is now “processing” his deportation to Uganda. Story: www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

According to Salvadoran government statistics, the number of Salvadorans deported from the US fell 24% in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2025. www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/C...

Quality data regarding migration from Central America to US. www.migrationpolicy.org/article/cent...

Here's how to know how the president of El Salvador wants his public to view each item in the news. beta.elfaro.net/en/a-region-...

Having a popular president who talks about Bitcoin and AI is not enough to produce economic growth. ECLAC projects El Salvador economic growth to remain below 3% in 2025 and 2026, lagging its neighbors in Central America. www.cepal.org/en/publicati...

In El Salvador, Bukele's political party has introduced a constitutional amendment to allow him to be re-elected without term limits. It will pass. Before today constitution limited president to one 5 year term, without chance of re-election. www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/A...

A group of global civil society organizations have placed the US on a watchlist for urgent concern over the health of its civic society, alongside Turkey, Serbia, El Salvador, Indonesia and Kenya.

U.S. ambassador in San Salvador, William Duncan, is ending his term as head of mission in El Salvador, according to a spokesperson of the Embassy. Mr. Duncan will retire from the Foreign Service after a 33-year career. “He expressed the government and the Salvadoran people his deep gratitude”

Hot off the @propublica.org presses: We're publishing bios of all 238 of the Venezuelan men who Trump sent to CECOT in an interactive database: projects.propublica.org/venezuelan-i...

It turns out that evaluating the admin at 6 months is exactly the right time. All the news stories are starting to feel like so many raindrops. & it's impossible to see the pattern of the weather pattern by looking at the rain. Here's your radar. www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/report/mass-...

The US-Venezuela-El Salvador prisoner swap stinks to high heaven. It makes no sense on the face of it. Why would Maduro trade US hostages for Venezuelans we are told are hardened gangsters? Probably because a number of them are dissidents. And other reasons we don’t yet know…🧵

Who does Trump send next to El Salvador? The US citizens held in Venezuela and the Venezuelans held in CECOT were all pawns of rulers who care little for the rule of law. www.bbc.com/news/article...

The exodus from El Salvador of human rights groups and journalists. www.reuters.com/world/americ...

22 flights landed in El Salvador in June carrying those deported from the US, with some days towards the end of the month seeing two flights per day according to @tomcartwright.bsky.social. This was 29% more flights than May and 89% more flights than prior 6 month average. This will only increase.

More ways Trump policies remove assets from local economies. www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/...