The Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES), the main guild of the country, announced the closure of its operations and its forced exile to the growing harassment to the low press. This has been confirmed to El País its president, Sergio Arauz. Its departure marks a historical precedent: for the first time since its foundation in 1936, the Association moved its legal status outside the country the event occurs after the exile of 43 other journalists this year, consequence of the authoritarian escalation.
In recent years, the APES became an uncomfortable actor for Bukele’s administration by constantly denouncing. In his most recent report, he registered 789 aggressions in 2024, the highest figure in the last decade. The majority, according to the document, from state agents: police, soldiers, public officials and even the president himself.
The association pointed out that the entry into force of the September 4 was the final blow that forced it to exile. The law requires registering any organization or person who receives funds from abroad for activities considered “political”, takes up 30% of that income and delivers an official to decide who can legally work in the country. On September 16, the APES announced that and will not undergo this control mechanism.
Another obstacle to the APES has been the refusal of the Bukele government to renew its credentials. Although he presented the documentation in order, the Ministry of the Interior has not resolved the procedure since last August. “We have put different obstacles and no weight, it is more a will of will,” Arauz tells this newspaper.
The president of APES said that, despite his departure, the association will continue to defend the right of journalists who still exercise in the Central American country under threat. “All the colleagues of El Salvador, of the entire ecosystem, are working with an invisible Damocles sword and very present in their day to day: measuring the tone of their voice and his thoughts to avoid reprisals,” he said.
Freedom of the press in El Salvador is going through one of its worst moments so far in the century. According to the World Freedom Index 2025, published by, the country is in 135 of 180, falling two steps more than last year, and even below Haiti.
“The media are among the victims of the generalized violence of El Salvador. The truthful media are harassed and the journalists who cover security issues and the gangs are criminalized,” says the RSF report.
Since his arrival to power, the Bukele government has attacked the media that have indicated cases of corruption and authoritarianism in their government, accusing them of being an external interference tool without presenting evidence. In recent years, attacks on the press have climbed to the point of accusing them without crime evidence such as money laundering or links with gangs, which has put the freedom of some journalists at risk.
“An exiled journalist every day”
Between May and June, dozens of journalists and human rights activists in El Salvador received information about an alleged “blacklist” with names of people to be captured in the following weeks. The last report of the APES, presented on Wednesday, also indicates this list as one of the triggers of exile. According to the document, at least 19 of the 43 exiled journalists fled after knowing in that supposed document.
In your report The curve of silencethe APES points out that 31 of the 43 journalists who left El Salvador to protect their physical integrity did so in May, “at a rate of practically one every day,” says the document. Many of them were and remain supported by the association in their exile process.
The report indicates that most exiled journalists between April and June are between 30 and 40 years old. It is, for the most part, professionals with more than a decade of experience and careers already consolidated in the media.
“The massive exit of journalists broke with any statistics of previous decades, drawing an incremental curve that, for the moment, is still not flattened. A curve full of silences and pain,” says the document. To that, Arauz added that, at present, “any person and institution that works in defense of human rights and journalism in El Salvador is at risk of being criminalized for not being part of the choir of applause required by the Government.”
Parallel to the exile of journalists, a still not determined number of critics and human rights defenders have been forced to flee from El Salvador governed by Bukele. On July 17, the organization after one of its directives, Ruth López, was captured in conditions that have been questioned by various international human rights organizations such as the Inter -American Commission on Human Rights.
Like López, four other activists and lawyers have been captured after criticizing or questioning the government. All have been prosecuted under the exception regime, a measure imposed by the government under the pretext of fighting only gangs, but also used for political purposes.
