{"id":23863,"date":"2025-06-13T11:15:26","date_gmt":"2025-06-13T15:15:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/?p=23863"},"modified":"2026-02-23T12:59:48","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T17:59:48","slug":"new-foreign-agents-law-threatens-rights-and-freedoms-of-civil-society-organizations-and-the-media-in-el-salvador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/2025\/06\/13\/new-foreign-agents-law-threatens-rights-and-freedoms-of-civil-society-organizations-and-the-media-in-el-salvador\/","title":{"rendered":"New Foreign Agents Law Threatens Rights and Freedoms of Civil Society Organizations and the Media in El Salvador"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the context of serious human rights setbacks, the weakening of the rule of law, and the dismantling of institutional controls in El Salvador, the Legislative Assembly, controlled largely by President Bukele\u2019s New Ideas party, passed a Foreign Agents Law<\/a> without public debate.<\/p>\n

The Law purports to promote \u201ctransparency\u201d on the influence of foreign actors on public opinion and to safeguard security, national sovereignty, and the social and political stability of the country. However, the Law presents state authorities with an opportunity to control and sanction human rights groups and the media that have denounced corruption, human rights violations, and authoritarian practices by President Bukele. In doing so, the Law violates the rights to freedom of association, freedom of expression, press freedom, and the right to defend human rights. Similar laws have been used in Russia, Nicaragua, and Venezuela to control and neutralize independent organizations and media.<\/p>\n

The Law requires individuals and organizations that receive funding internationally, directly or indirectly, to register as \u201cforeign agents\u201d with a newly established Foreign Agents Registry (RAEX) under the Ministry of the Interior. The law broadly defines foreign agents as any person or organization that \u201cresponds to interests, is controlled or financed, directly or indirectly by a foreign principal.\u201d A foreign principal is any person or organization based abroad, including a government, political party, or organization, as well as any entity so determined by the RAEX. With a broad definition and discretion by the RAEX, the Registry may use this power arbitrarily.<\/p>\n

Once registered, each financial transaction involving foreign principal funds is subject to a 30 percent tax. The Law does not clarify whether the current 10% tax on donations will be added to this new tax, which would further increase the financial burden and make it comparable to de facto confiscation, endangering the very existence and viability of organizations and independent media in the country.<\/p>\n

Under vague and ambiguous terms, the Law prohibits the so-called foreign agents from conducting activities for political \u201cor other\u201d purposes that have the objective of altering public order or threatening the social and political stability of the country. These agents must use the funds for specific purposes outlined to the RAEX and cannot accept anonymous donations.<\/p>\n

Among REAX\u2019s broad powers, it can:
\n– Exempt certain organizations from the tax without establishing clear parameters. This may result in unequal treatment\u2013rewarding or punishing entities depending on their relationship with the Government.
\n– Establish new requirements or obligations for foreign agents and new administrative procedures.
\n– Impose sanctions. In the case of a failure to register, the RAEX may freeze bank accounts, prevent the performance of activities, either temporarily or permanently, and suspend or cancel the legal status or registration of organizations. Failure to comply with the provisions of LEAX may also result in fines ranging from $100,000 to $250,000. Actions that result in fines or sanctions are not clearly enumerated, which could lead to an arbitrary imposition.
\nThe Law opens the door to criminal prosecution through failure to comply with prohibitions and the Anti-Money Laundering law. It targets civil society organizations, especially those that advocate for human rights, and the media by attempting to control and limit activities perceived as threatening to the government.<\/p>\n

Additionally, REAX\u2019s extensive authority to supervise and regulate the activities of foreign agents, coupled with the law’s vague language and absence of clear legal definitions, creates significant risks of intrusive government interference in the operations of private entities. For instance, the power to revoke an NGO\u2019s legal status without judicial oversight\u2014based on vague grounds such as disturbing public order or threatening social and political stability\u2014poses a grave threat to organizations that do not align with government interests. This provision could be exploited to target dissenting or independent organizations while bolstering those aligned with the authorities.<\/p>\n

For these reasons, the undersigned organizations call on: 1) the Organization of American States (OAS) to condemn this legislation and convene an urgent permanent council to address the democratic backsliding in El Salvador; 2) the U.S. Congress to call on the Trump administration to abstain from supporting measures that undermine the work of civil society and human rights defenders; 3) the United Nations (UN) to condemn El Salvador\u2019s Foreign Agents Law, and to urge the State to derogate the law and comply with its international obligations; and 4) the OAS and the UN to speak out against the proliferation of this type of legislation in the region and their negative impact on civil society.<\/p>\n

Acci\u00f3n Solidaria, Venezuela
\nAlianza de Organizaciones por los Derechos Humanos del Ecuador
\nAlianza Regional por la Libre Expresi\u00f3n e Informaci\u00f3n
\nAmnesty International
\nAsociaci\u00f3n Pro Derechos Humanos APRODEH
\nCenter for Justice and International Law (CEJIL)
\nCentro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Cat\u00f3lica Andr\u00e9s Bello (Venezuela)
\nCentro de Documentaci\u00f3n en Derechos Humanos “Segundo Montes Mozo SJ” (CSMM)
\nCentro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (CELS)
\nConsultor\u00eda para los Derechos Humanos y el Desplazamiento (CODHES)
\nConvergencia por los Derechos Humanos Guatemala
\nCorporaci\u00f3n Humanas – Centro Regional de Derechos Humanos y Justicia de G\u00e9nero (Chile)
\nDue Process of Law Foundation (DPLF)
\nEquipo de Reflexi\u00f3n, Investigaci\u00f3n y Comunicaci\u00f3n (ERIC-SJ Honduras)
\nEquipo Jur\u00eddico por los Derechos Humanos (EJDH)Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights
\nInstituto de Defensa Legal – IDL, Peru
\nInternational Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), in the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders
\nInternational Institute on Race, Equality and Human Rights
\nInternational Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
\nMovimiento Aut\u00f3nomo de Mujeres, Nicaragua
\nPaz y Esperanza, Per\u00fa
\nRobert F. Kennedy Human Rights
\nTejiendo Redes Infancia en Am\u00e9rica Latina y el Caribe
\nWashington Office on Latin America (WOLA)
\nWorld Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), in the framework of the Observatory for the\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Protection of Human Rights Defenders<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n

Photo credit: Asamblea Legislativa de El Salvador on X.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the context of serious human rights setbacks, the weakening of the rule of law, and the dismantling of institutional controls in El Salvador, the Legislative Assembly, controlled largely by President Bukele\u2019s New Ideas party, passed a Foreign Agents Law without public debate. The Law purports to promote \u201ctransparency\u201d on the influence of foreign actors […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":24420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[681],"tags":[997],"country":[879,876],"issue":[913],"program":[873],"resource":[896],"class_list":["post-23863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comunicados","tag-civic-space","country-el-salvador","country-america-central","issue-authoritarianism-and-democratic-backsliding","program-transitional-justice-and-fight-against-impunity","resource-press-releases"],"acf":{"boton_1":"Leer en espa\u00f1ol","url_boton_1\u00ba":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/la-nueva-ley-de-agentes-extranjeros-amenaza-los-derechos-y-libertades-de-las-organizaciones-de-la-sociedad-civil-y-los-medios-de-comunicacion-en-el-salvador\/","boton_2":"Download in PDF","url_boton_2":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/EL-SALVADOR-New-Foreign-Agents-Law-Threatens-Rights-and-Freedoms-of-Civil-Society-Organizations-and-the-Media-PBN-20250613.pdf","boton_3":"","url_boton_3":"","boton_4":"","url_boton_4":"","boton_5":"","url_boton_5":"","boton_6":"","url_boton_6":"","boton_7":"","url_boton_7":"","boton_8":"","url_boton_8":"","boton_9":"","url_boton_9":"","boton_10":"","url_boton_10":""},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Asamblea-Legislativa-de-El-Salvador-2023.jpeg?fit=1600%2C900&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23863"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23863"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23863\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24422,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23863\/revisions\/24422"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23863"},{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=23863"},{"taxonomy":"issue","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/issue?post=23863"},{"taxonomy":"program","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/program?post=23863"},{"taxonomy":"resource","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dplf.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/resource?post=23863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}