Miami (September 13, 2024) – Representatives from the Inter American Press Association (IAPA) and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) raised alarms this week about the worsening state of freedom of expression and the press in El Salvador following a joint mission to the Central American country. The situation has been exacerbated by the state of emergency imposed by President Nayib Bukele's government since March 2022.
The delegation met with media representatives, journalist associations, academic institutions, and human rights-focused NGOs, as well as members of the diplomatic corps. The mission was led by thr IAPA President Roberto Rock, director of La Silla Rota, Mexico, and Cristina Zahar, CPJ's Latin America Program Coordinator. They also had a meeting with the Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and Freedom of Expression, Andrés Guzmán Caballero, who is the government's main official responsible for this area.
Key findings from the mission include:
· The Salvadoran government severely restricts access to public information and has weakened the governmental body responsible for safeguarding this right. This has limited transparency on critical issues such as prison conditions and crime statistics amid the state of emergency. Journalists and civil society organizations highlighted "enormous opacity, concealment of information, and a complete lack of access to official sources."
· Journalists report increasing stigmatization, harassment, and threats from government supporters and officials, including President Bukele himself, high-ranking officials, and ruling party legislators. Interviewed reporters described a hostile rhetoric against the press and constant attempts to undermine journalistic credibility through smear campaigns.
· Since the implementation of the state of emergency, fundamental constitutional guarantees have been restricted, including the confidentiality of private correspondence, and detentions without judicial orders have been authorized, creating a climate of intimidation and self-censorship among journalists.
· Media representatives acknowledge that some colleagues have left the profession out of fear of retaliation, and more than a dozen journalists have been forced to leave the country temporarily or permanently in the past two years due to government persecution.
· The Pegasus spyware has been used against government critics, affecting the privacy and security of 35 journalists, media outlets, and civil society members between July 2020 and November 2021. Outlets such as El Faro, GatoEncerrado, La Prensa Gráfica, Revista Digital Disruptiva, Diario El Mundo, and El Diario de Hoy have been identified as targets of this illegal surveillance.
· Intimidation tactics, including financial audits and manipulation of official advertising, are recurrent strategies to silence critical media. Government advertising is predominantly allocated to pro-government media, while it is withdrawn or significantly reduced for critical outlets.
· Additional reports indicate the existence of a "digital army" of tech contractors and trolls to spread disinformation, harass critics, and amplify official propaganda.
When questioned by the IAPA and CPJ representatives, the presidential commissioner denied any persecution of the press and referred to the absence of imprisoned or murdered journalists as a benchmark for evaluating press freedom in the country from the official perspective.
Regarding whether the Salvadoran government would invite the special rapporteur for freedom of expression from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), as recommended by this body of the Organization of American States, Guzmán stated that the government "is working in that direction."
Guzmán rejected the statistics from the Salvadoran Journalists Association (APES, for its acronym in Spanish) that show a sharp increase in attacks on the press over the past year, claiming he does not agree with the methodology. He also critically addressed a recent IACHR report on the state of emergency, explaining that its methodology "is not clear."
In addition to Rock and Zahar, the mission included former IAP's President Michael Greenspon, Global Director of Licensing and Print Innovation at The New York Times, USA; Executive Committee President Gabriela Vivanco, Director of La Hora, Ecuador; and Executive Director Carlos Lauría from the IAPA, and Dánae Vilchez, Latin America Researcher from CPJ.
The IAPA is a non-profit organization dedicated to defending and promoting freedom of the press and expression in the Americas. It comprises more than 1,300 publications from the western hemisphere and is based in Miami, Florida, United States.
CPJ is an independent, non-profit organization that works to safeguard press freedom around the world.
