(Adnkronos) – Ruth Eleonora Lopez, a lawyer committed to defending the rights of migrants expelled from the United States and a critic of President Nayib Bukele, an ally of US President Donald Trump, has been arrested in El Salvador. The accusation against Lopez, 47, and director of the anti-corruption and justice unit of the NGO Cristosal, is that of “misappropriation” of state funds and refers to when the lawyer worked at an electoral court ten years ago.
This was explained in a note by the NGO itself, while the Salvadoran prosecutor’s office confirmed the arrest with a post on ‘X’. “So far, neither her family nor her legal team have been able to find out where Lopez is,” Cristosal said. Her arrest “raises serious concerns about the growing risks faced by human rights defenders in El Salvador,” the group added.
Numerous appeals have been made for her release. A group of human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, said Lopez’s arrest demonstrates the growing authoritarianism of Bukele, who has called himself “the coolest dictator in the world.” Last year, the BBC included Lopez in a list of 100 influential and inspiring women around the world, praising her “passion for law and justice.” The NGO Cristosal provides assistance to the families of Salvadorans involved in Bukele’s gang crackdown, as well as the more than 250 Venezuelans expelled by the Trump administration, which paid El Salvador to keep them in its prisons.
