Salvadoran organization accuses U.S. lawmakers grouped in El Salvador caucus of 'whitewashing abuses' by Bukele

A Salvadoran organization is harshly criticizing a group of U.S. lawmakers who recently formed the "El Salvador caucus," saying that, rather than advancing the relations between the two countries, they are seeking to "whitewash" human rights abuses by the government of Nayib Bukele.

The Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES) published the allegations on Tuesday, saying that the group emerged as "increasing numbers of international headlines report on widespread human rights violations under Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's militarized state of exception."

CISPES said that, over the past two years, Bukele's "war against gangs" has led to mass arrests and overcrowded prisons, drawing condemnation from human rights organization. It focused especially on a July 2024 report from the Salvadoran human rights organization Cristosal highlighted the deaths of at least 265 people in state custody and documented evidence of torture and arbitrary detentions.

The group added that despite this, Republican Matt Gaetz, co-chair of the caucus, praised Bukele's policies during a trip to the country. he caucus's formation follows the controversial inauguration of Bukele for a second term, which critics have labeled unconstitutional. "A lot of the people behind [prison bars] would've found a way to make their way to the United States and harm Americans," Gaetz said during his visit.

However, the piece added, "migration from El Salvador has continued under Bukele, driven by a failing economy and aggravated by the imminent threat of arbitrary arrest," as well as political persecution.

The organization also focused on the request by El Salvador caucus for the State Department to reduce the country's travel advisory, currently at Level 3, which means "Reconsider Travel" and is the second-highest possible. It claimed that doing so could "amount to an erasure of the repressive conditions that the current advisory describes—conditions that have not changed."

"It could also affect Salvadorans seeking asylum in the United States by denying the dangers of life under Bukele's government. Such advisories are often included in asylum cases to demonstrate the U.S. government's official recognition of the conditions that force people to flee their home countries," CISPES said.

The piece concludes by saying that the caucus has taken on the task of "whitewashing the Bukele government's brutality." ". But members of Congress and the Biden administration who choose to maintain U.S. support for Bukele's authoritarian rule also bear responsibility for the repression and criminalization of marginalized populations and organized movements in El Salvador."