For the first time in its nearly ninety-year history, the Association of Journalists of El Salvador (APES) has been forced to close its doors and move its legal status abroad, a decision that underscores the deteriorating state of press freedom in the Central American nation. The move, announced on October 2, 2025, comes after a wave of government measures and mounting threats that have left the country’s journalists feeling more vulnerable than ever.
Founded in 1936, APES has long served as El Salvador’s principal organization defending journalists’ rights and upholding freedom of the press. But according to its president, Sergio Arauz, the association’s leadership saw no choice but to relocate after years of escalating harassment and, most recently, the passage of a controversial foreign agents law. "This was a difficult decision, taken after evaluating the urgent need to work without limitations, pressures," APES said in a statement reported by international media outlets.
The foreign agents law, which came into effect on September 4, 2025, requires any organization or person in El Salvador that receives funds from abroad for activities classified as "political" to register with the government. The law also imposes a steep 30% tax on such foreign funding and empowers officials to decide who can legally operate in the country. The law’s broad language and punitive measures have been widely interpreted as targeting civil society groups and independent media, especially those critical of President Nayib Bukele’s administration.
APES made it clear that it would not submit to what it calls a "control mechanism" designed to stifle dissent. On September 16, 2025, the association publicly announced it would not comply with the new law. The government’s response was swift: the Ministry of the Interior refused to renew APES’s credentials, even though all necessary documentation had been submitted. “We have put different obstacles and no weight, it is more a will of will,” Arauz told El País, underscoring the arbitrary nature of the government’s actions.
These developments have not occurred in a vacuum. In its most recent annual report, APES documented a staggering 789 aggressions against journalists in 2024 alone—the highest number recorded in the past decade. The report attributes most of these incidents to state agents, including police, soldiers, public officials, and even President Bukele himself. The climate for independent journalism has grown so hostile that, between March and June 2025, at least 43 Salvadoran journalists—most with over a decade of experience—fled the country to protect their safety, according to APES and corroborated by international news agencies. The association’s report, The Curve of Silence, notes that in May, journalists were leaving at a rate of nearly one per day.
Most of those forced into exile had worked for independent online news outlets, the very media organizations that have repeatedly exposed government corruption and abuses. Many of these journalists have not returned, citing credible fears of arrest—a fate that has already befallen several human rights defenders this year. According to APES, the government’s rhetoric has contributed to the atmosphere of intimidation, with President Bukele frequently accusing NGOs and media critical of his policies of being sympathetic to gangs, all without providing evidence. This narrative, critics argue, is used to justify crackdowns on dissent and to undermine the legitimacy of independent voices.
The foreign agents law has not only affected APES. Several other prominent organizations, including the human rights group Cristosal, have also moved their legal status outside El Salvador in recent months. The law’s sweeping requirements and heavy tax burden have made it nearly impossible for groups reliant on international support to function within the country. Critics, both domestic and international, see the law as a thinly veiled attempt to silence critical voices by choking off their funding and exposing them to legal jeopardy.
The consequences for El Salvador’s international reputation have been swift and severe. The 2025 World Freedom Index, published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), ranked El Salvador 135th out of 180 countries—a drop of two places from the prior year and placing it even below Haiti. The RSF report is blunt: “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.”
The situation for human rights defenders is equally dire. On July 17, 2025, Ruth López, a leading figure in civil society, was arrested under circumstances that have drawn sharp criticism from international organizations, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. López’s arrest is not an isolated case; at least four other activists and lawyers have been detained after speaking out against the government. All have been prosecuted under the so-called exception regime—a measure originally introduced to combat gang violence but increasingly used, according to critics, for political purposes.
APES’s departure marks a watershed moment in El Salvador’s history. Never before had the association been forced to operate from abroad. Yet, its leaders remain resolute. Arauz emphasized that APES will continue to defend the rights of journalists still working in El Salvador, despite the risks. “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 told El País.
The mass exodus of journalists and the clampdown on civil society have created what APES calls "a curve full of silences and pain." The association’s latest report observes that the forced departures have shattered all previous records, with most exiled journalists being seasoned professionals between 30 and 40 years old. The report warns that the situation remains volatile, with no sign that the trend will reverse soon.
President Bukele, for his part, continues to enjoy high popularity, buoyed by his tough stance on gangs and his landslide reelection. Supporters argue that his policies have brought much-needed stability to a country long plagued by violence. Yet, critics warn that this stability has come at a steep price: the erosion of democratic norms, the suppression of dissent, and the silencing of independent journalism.
As El Salvador’s journalists and human rights advocates look to the future, many are left wondering whether the country’s democratic institutions can withstand the current onslaught. For now, APES’s exile stands as a stark symbol of the challenges facing those who dare to speak truth to power in El Salvador.
