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        {"code":"27826","sect":"El Salvador","sect_slug":"el-salvador","hits":"1084","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/en\/202515\/el_salvador\/27826","link_edit":"","name":"El Faro Denounces Possible Arrest Warrants for At Least Seven Staff Members in El Salvador","slug":"el-faro-denounces-possible-arrest-warrants-for-at-least-seven-staff-members-in-el-salvador","info":"A reliable source in El Salvador told El Faro that the Bukele-controlled Attorney General\u2019s Office is preparing at least seven arrest warrants for members of El Faro. The source reached out following the publication of an interview with two former leaders of the 18th Street Revolucionarios on Bukele\u2019s years-long relationship to gangs. If carried out, the warrants are the first time in decades that prosecutors seek to press charges against individual journalists for their journalistic labors.","mtag":"Impunity","noun":{"html":"\u003Cspan class='tint-text--dark' data_href='\/user\/profile\/rgressier'\u003E Roman Gressier\u003C\/span\u003E","data":{"roman-gressier":{"sort":"rgressier","slug":"roman-gressier","path":"roman_gressier","name":"Roman Gressier","edge":"0","init":"0"}}},"view":"1084","pict":{"cms-image-000038988-jpg":{"feat":"1","sort":"38988","name":"cms-image-000038988.jpg","link":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038988.jpg","path":"https:\/\/elfaro.net\/images\/cms-image-000038988.jpg","back":"","slug":"cms-image-000038988-jpg","text":"&lt;p&gt;Translating Central America.&lt;\/p&gt;","capt":"\u003Cp\u003ETranslating Central America.\u003C\/p\u003E"}},"pict_main__sort":38988,"date":{"live":"2025\/05\/05"},"data_post_dateLive_YY":"2025","data_post_dateLive_MM":"05","data_post_dateLive_DD":"05","text":"\u003Cp id=\"docs-internal-guid-7fa7d703-7fff-d864-6537-70b0838a5f17\" dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn recent days, a reliable source with knowledge of government actions in El Salvador told El Faro journalists that the Nayib Bukele-controlled Attorney General\u2019s Office is preparing at least seven arrest warrants for members of El Faro. The source presented evidence adding credibility to this account. If executed, any arrests would mark the most frontal state assault on press freedom in El Salvador since Bukele came to office in 2019.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EEl Faro made this announcement on Saturday night, in a \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/_elfaro_\/status\/1918804096133275968?s=46\"\u003ESpanish-language livestream\u003C\/a\u003E. \u201cAny capture or raid on our homes will be for having done journalism,\u201d stated editor-in-chief \u00d3scar Mart\u00ednez.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe source reached out to El Faro following the publication this week of a \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202515\/ef_tv\/27825\/charli-rsquo-s-confessions-interview-with-gang-leader-who-pacted-with-nayib-bukele\"\u003Ethree-part video interview\u003C\/a\u003E, subtitled in English, with two former leaders of the 18th Street Revolucionarios gang, shedding new light on Bukele\u2019s years-long relationship to \u2014and negotiation with\u2014 Salvadoran gangs, dating back to 2014, when he was mayoral candidate for San Salvador. It was the first time that gang sources involved in the pacts did so on camera.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe warrants against El Faro reportedly include the charges of apology for crimes and illicit association, despite explicit and longstanding protections of the journalist-source relationship in El Salvador.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOn Friday evening, upon the release of part two of the interview, Bukele \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/nayibbukele\/status\/1918373200347484349?s=46\"\u003Eventured on X\u003C\/a\u003E that \u201ca country at peace, without the dead, extortion, or mothers crying for their children is no longer profitable for the human rights NGOs, the globalist media, the elites, or Soros.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EState Intelligence Agency (OIE) chief Peter Dumas \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/peterdumas\/status\/1918055064310014277?s=46\"\u003Ewrote Thursday\u003C\/a\u003E that \u201cone must not throw mortars at those with bombs,\u201d \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/peterdumas\/status\/1918101620027441211?s=46\"\u003Eadding\u003C\/a\u003E: \u201cWith \u2018journalists\u2019 financed by and tied to maras, drug trafficking, sexual abuse, human trafficking, and other crimes, we should have double the budget. They cannot hide forever behind the invisible shield of \u2018journalism.\u2019\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe OAS \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/PVacaV\/status\/1918845504907080070\"\u003ESpecial Rapporteur for Freedom of Expression\u003C\/a\u003E, \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/juanpappierhrw\/status\/1918809124281708619?s=46\"\u003EHuman Rights Watch\u003C\/a\u003E, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/apeselsalvador\/status\/1918812966989795567?s=46\"\u003ESalvadoran Journalists\u2019 Association\u003C\/a\u003E (APES) are among those to have already condemned the possible arrest warrants.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003E\u201cNo body, no crime\u201d\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EAt the heart of the threat of arrests is irony: El Faro was only able to interview the two Revolucionarios because they escaped El Salvador with the complicity of Bukele.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EOne, who goes by \u201cLiro Man,\u201d recounts that he was taken to Guatemala, through a blind spot in the Salvadoran border, by Bukele gang negotiator Carlos Marroqu\u00edn; the other, Carlos Cartagena, or \u201cCharli\u201d, was arrested on a warrant in April 2022, early in the state of exception, but quickly released after the police received a call at the station and backed off.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EMeanwhile, tens of thousands of Salvadorans were being rounded up without due process, on charges of belonging to gangs.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThe video interview explains the dichotomy: For years, Salvadoran gang leaders cut covert deals with the entourage of Nayib Bukele. In \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202515\/ef_tv\/27825\/charli-rsquo-s-confessions-interview-with-gang-leader-who-pacted-with-nayib-bukele\"\u003Etheir interview with El Faro\u003C\/a\u003E, the two Revolucionarios say the FMLN party, to which the now-president belonged a decade ago, paid a quarter of a million dollars to the gangs during the 2014 campaign in exchange for vote coercion in gang-controlled communities, on behalf of Bukele for San Salvador mayor and Salvador S\u00e1nchez Cer\u00e9n as president.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThis support, the sources say, was key to Bukele\u2019s ascent to power. \u201cYou\u2019re going to tell your mom and your wife\u2019s family that they have to vote for Nayib. If you don\u2019t do it, we\u2019ll kill them,\u201d Liro Man says the gang members told their communities in that election. Of Bukele, he added, \u201che knew he had to get to the gangs in order to get to where he is.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EWith Bukele as president, starting in 2019, they agreed to curb homicides, including by hiding bodies to suppress official reporting: \u201cNo body, no crime,\u201d top Bukele negotiator Carlos Marroqu\u00edn reportedly told the men. They also assert that, as part of the pact, which lasted until March 2022, the Bukele administration also tolerated extortion.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EThree years into the state of exception, the gang leaders explained to El Faro why they reached out to the newsroom, and why now: \u201cWe\u2019ve wanted to talk about this for a long time,\u201d said Liro Man, \u201cfor the simple reason that the government beats their chests and says, \u2018We\u2019re anti-gang, we don\u2019t want this scourge.\u2019 But they forgot that they made a deal with us, and you [El Faro] were the first to get this out.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003E\u003Cstrong\u003EAttacks against journalism\u003C\/strong\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn September 2019, in Bukele\u2019s first official act, the Press Secretariat briefly shut El Faro and Revista Factum journalists out of his press conferences. He then pulled ads and contracts from traditional newspaper El Diario de Hoy for reporting the decision. \u201cEven then, it was clear that the president was willing to bring the full institutional power of the government to bear against voices of dissent,\u201d wrote El Faro in a July 2020 editorial, \u201c\u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202007\/el_salvador\/24697\/Bukele-Is-a-Threat-to-Journalism.htm\"\u003EBukele Is a Threat to Journalism\u003C\/a\u003E.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn September 2020, the attacks intensified after El Faro revealed Bukele\u2019s gang negotiations for a reduction in homicides to the public for the first time. He responded by personally accusing El Faro on national television of being subject to investigation for \u201cserious money laundering.\u201d This was the month that El Faro was illegally and collectively most \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202201\/el_salvador\/25936\/22-Members-of-El-Faro-Bugged-with-Spyware-Pegasus.htm\"\u003Esurveilled using Pegasus spyware\u003C\/a\u003E in El Salvador.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EBukele\u2019s baseless money-laundering allegation was never substantiated, and the government never addressed the findings of El Faro\u2019s reporting, opting to vehemently and flatly deny that any gang negotiation was taking place. Meanwhile, when prosecutors raided Bureau of Prisons facilities, \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202505\/ef_audio\/27803\/Podcast-For-a-Portrait-of-Bukele-Look-to-His-Prisons.htm\"\u003Ethey found evidence adding to that published by El Faro\u003C\/a\u003E, even as top officials pulled hard drives and logbooks to try to hide the evidence.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn April 2021, the Salvadoran government notified El Faro of the preliminary accusation that the news organization had evaded taxes it had in fact paid, essentially by \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202104\/columns\/0000025412-government-fabricates-a-new-case-against-el-faro\"\u003Emanipulating a selection of one-time donations\u003C\/a\u003E to El Faro as if they were in fact monthly contributions, thus falsely generating a supposed untaxed sum.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn the intervening months, El Faro faced government attacks including smear campaigns, stalking, illegal wiretaps, threats, constant online harassment, and the denial of work visas for two foreign El Faro employees, including one from El Faro English. As early as 2022, up to ten journalists from El Salvador were already exiled, according to \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/latamjournalismreview.org\/es\/news\/diez-periodistas-de-el-salvador-huyen-de-su-pais-para-evitar-persecucion-politica\/\"\u003EAPES\u003C\/a\u003E, a situation which in the ensuing three years has remained volatile. In 2024, the association registered the most press freedom violations in the country \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/apes.org.sv\/centro-de-monitoreo\/\"\u003Ein a single year\u003C\/a\u003E on record.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIn April 2023, El Faro announced its most frontal measure to fend off government attacks in El Salvador, finalizing the \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202304\/opinion\/26805\/El-Faro-Moves-to-Costa-Rica.htm\"\u003Eexile of its legal incorporation to Costa Rica\u003C\/a\u003E, and the transition from a company to a private foundation, while leaving the lion\u2019s share of the members of the newsroom and administration living and working in El Salvador.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp dir=\"ltr\"\u003EIf carried out, the arrest warrants in El Salvador are the first time in decades that prosecutors seek to press charges against individual journalists for their journalistic labors.\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003EIn January 2022, the editorial board laid out El Faro\u2019s \u003Ca href=\"\/en\/202201\/columns\/0000025928-we-cant-change-the-news\"\u003Evision of its role amid the authoritarian regression\u003C\/a\u003E in El Salvador: \u201cEvery citizen must decide for themselves whether they want to be informed, or whether they prefer the blind loyalty this administration has demanded of its supporters since its first day in power,\u201d they wrote. \u201cWe don\u2019t have that choice. Our job is to report. We can\u2019t change the news, and we never will.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Chr \/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cbr\/\u003E\u003Cp\u003E\u003Cem\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #888888;\"\u003EThis article first appeared in the May 5 edition of the El Faro English newsletter.\u003C\/span\u003E\u00a0\u003Ca href=\"\/suscribe\/en\/\"\u003ESubscribe here\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: #888888;\"\u003E.\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/em\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E"}

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