El Salvador National Palace.
May 2025 news in El Salvador centers on cost-of-living debates, government policy shifts, and daily realities shaping how Salvadorans adapt to economic pressures, wages, and housing demands.
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InSightCrime: El Salvador’s Anti-Gang Crackdown Now Has Political Opponents in Its Crosshairs. Authorities in El Salvador have arrested a prominent human rights defender amid growing concerns over the government’s repressive anti-crime tactics, suggesting policies once used to attack organized crime are being repurposed to target political opponents…
El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly Approves Foreign Agents Law, Imposes 30% Tax on NGO Donations. The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador has approved a controversial Foreign Agents Law that imposes a 30% tax on foreign donations to non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and gives them 90 days to register with the government…
CID Gallup Survey: ARENA, FMLN, and VAMOS Struggle to Gain Support Among Salvadoran Voters. Once powerful pillars of Salvadoran politics, the ARENA and FMLN parties now face overwhelming voter rejection, according to a new CID Gallup poll suggesting their possible political extinction…
Synthetic Drugs in Latin America: A Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Top Concern. Synthetic drugs continue to pose the greatest threat to U.S. public health and safety, the Drug Enforcement Administration warned in its latest National Drug Threat Assessment, pointing to changing criminal tactics, fluctuating purity levels, and growing ties between narcotics and other illicit markets…
President Bukele Meets Nuevas Ideas Leaders as Party Vows Firmness in Governance. President Nayib Bukele held a late-night meeting Wednesday with lawmakers and top members of his ruling Nuevas Ideas party, a day after the Legislative Assembly approved the contentious Foreign Agents Law…
President Bukele Faces Backlash Over Foreign Agents Law Proposal from NGOs and Opposition. Local and international NGOs quickly denounced President Bukele’s proposed Foreign Agents Law, warning it could silence dissent and stifle civil society. Many labeled the measure authoritarian on social media…
The Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador Seizes Over 3,700 Fake Banknotes in 2024. The Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador (BCR) confiscated more than 3,700 fake bills in 2024, indicating a decline in counterfeiting yet exposing ongoing weaknesses in lower-value denominations, notably the $20 bill…
New Ideas Deputy Ernesto Castro: Bukele’s Right-Hand Man in El Salvador’s Legislature. Few names have gained prominence as quickly and decisively as Ernesto Castro in El Salvador’s shifting political landscape. He may not always be front-page news, but he undeniably has become a central figure in shaping the future of Salvadoran politics…
Permanent Table for Labor Justice (MPJL) Pushes for 25% Minimum Wage Increase in El Salvador. The Permanent Table for Labor Justice (MPJL) submitted a proposal last Thursday to increase the minimum wage by at least 25%…
Vice President Felix Ulloa: El Salvador Seeks to Reduce the Margin of Error of the State of Exception. Salvadoran Vice President, Félix Ulloa, emphasized efforts to improve the arrest protocols under the state of emergency, which has been in place for over three years…
Association of Journalists of El Salvador APES Reports 789 Attacks on Journalists in 2024. In 2024, El Salvador’s press faced an alarming rise in hostility, with nearly 800 cases of censorship, threats, and violence—making it one of the bleakest years for journalistic freedom since the civil war…
Reporters Without Borders: Press Freedom Declines in El Salvador as Attacks on Journalists Continue. Systematic attacks on independent media persist in El Salvador, deepening a decline in press freedom under President Nayib Bukele’s administration, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said Thursday.
Deputy Claudia Ortiz: Looking to Build a Political Alternative to Bukele and His Political Party. Claudia Ortiz is a deputy in the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly from the VAMOS political party. She is a central figure in Salvadoran politics, especially among those opposing Nayib Bukele.