El Faro, a digital news outlet from El Salvador, says a number of its journalists are facing arrest following the publication of a video interview with former gang members.
El Faro says that a “reliable source with knowledge of government actions in El Salvador” informed the news organization that the Attorney General’s Office is preparing arrest warrants for at least seven of its journalists. The source reportedly “presented evidence” to support their claim.
Editor-in-chief of El Faro, Óscar Martínez, first shared news of the alleged warrants in a livestream on Saturday night. The journalists in question have reportedly been charged with crime apology in addition to illicit association.
Article 349 of the country’s penal code explains the offense of “crime apology.” It states: “Anyone who publicly makes an apology for a willful common crime shall be punished with imprisonment from six months to two years.” Additionally, under Article 345, those found to have engaged in illicit association face prison time of between three and five years, while organizers and leaders of groups found guilty of illicit association face between six and nine years in prison.
This follows a three-part interview series in which El Faro spoke to two former members of the 18th Street Revolucionarios gang, in which the former gang members alleged that President Nayib Bukele collaborated and negotiated with violent criminal groups.
The claims dated back to 2014, when Bukele was running for mayor of the capital, San Salvador.
Among the allegations made were that, while Bukele was a mayoral candidate, the party to which he belonged—the FMLN—paid USD $250,000 to gangs. The payment was reportedly made as part of an attempt to coerce votes in gang-controlled communities.
One of the former gang members in the documentary recalls how gang members would threaten people into voting for Bukele, making demands such as: “You’re going to tell your mom and your wife’s family that they have to vote for Nayib. If you don’t do it, we’ll kill them.”
The former gang members also claimed that, after Bukele became president in 2019, they agreed to reduce the number of reported homicides. One of the measures to accomplish this was reportedly the hiding of bodies, with one of Bukele’s negotiators—Carlos Marroqín—allegedly telling the gang members: “No body, no crime.”
In the livestream, Martínez said of the arrest warrants: “Even though they are absurd, even though they are Kafkaesque, they are not surprising.”
He added: “This is the problem when we permit such an excessive concentration of power, when we let a group into power and we let them exercise this power without constitutional limits, and when the citizens lose the right to legitimate defense.”
Martínez continued: ”When journalists are threatened, when journalists are silenced, when journalists are attacked, those who lose are the citizens.”
Towards the end of the video, he said, “I feel very proud of this journalism that this great team carries out. I feel very proud that, for so many years, no matter who has been in power, we have maintained a critical attitude towards those who administer the power that was delegated to them by the citizens, and who administer public funds.”
He concluded by accusing the prosecutor’s office of “silencing journalism” and “depriving the citizens of their right to be informed.”
The Central American Network for Journalists (RCP) has condemned the possible warrants, saying: “We reiterate that the journalistic practice, especially that which reveals matters of public interest like corruption, structural violence, or pacts of impunity, cannot and should not be criminally prosecuted.” The statement continued: “The use of the judicial system as a tool to silence journalists constitutes a serious violation of human rights, freedom of the press, freedom of expression, and citizens’ right to information.”
El Salvador’s Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and Freedom of Expression, Andrés Guzman Caballero, responded to the news of the alleged arrest warrants on X, declaring: “This Commission reaffirms that in El Salvador, freedom of the press and expression, fundamental pillars of any democratic society, are respected and guaranteed.”
Guzman Caballero added: “At the same time, we remember that the rule of law governs all citizens in our country, including journalists. If any person, regardless of their profession or occupation, faces charges of possible criminal acts, it is the responsibility of the competent institutions to guarantee due process, the presumption of innocence, and unrestricted respect for human rights.”
In 2023, El Faro moved its headquarters from El Salvador to Costa Rica. The news organization claimed that this was to escape restricted press freedom imposed by Bukele, saying it was the victim of “fabricated allegations.”
El Salvador is ranked 112 out of 180 countries for press freedom.
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