El Salvador Perspectives

The March 15, 2025, US deportation flights, which brought hundreds of Venezuelans and a few dozen Salvadorans to El Salvador's CECOT prison, continue to be in the news.  The Washington Post disclosed more details about the deal between Washington and Bukele, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio's promise to undo agreements with cooperating witnesses from MS-13 who were ready to testify about bargains between the Salvadoran government and the gang.   Rubio promised to betray U.S. informants to get Trump’s El Salvador prison deal  (Washington Post, Oct. 20, 2025) --  "in promising to terminate the informant arrangements, current and former Justice Department officials say Rubio threatened to undercut years of work by U.S. law enforcement to apprehend and secure the cooperation of high-ranking members of one of the world’s most deadly gangs." Rubio's deal had its origins in earlier dealings with El Salvador led by then-ambassador Ron Johnson:  An American ...

Several news topics from El Salvador at the end of September involve water. Major Water Crisis in the Capital A significant water crisis occurred in September due to a collapse in a 48-inch pipeline belonging to the Northern Zone System, which services large parts of the San Salvador Metropolitan Area (AMSS) and La Libertad. The initial suspension of service occurred on September 16, but the problem was aggravated when the newly repaired pipe collapsed again shortly afterward. This led to a prolonged, multi-day water shortage affecting major zones of the metro area. On Wednesday, September 17, approximately four hours after the initial repair was reported as complete and the system had begun the slow process of refilling, the catastrophic secondary failure occurred. The high-pressure pipeline collapsed again, and this time it took with it the entire structure which supported it over a ravine outside Apopa. This cascading failure transformed a manageable technical problem into a full-bl...

One of the defining features of Nayib Bukele's presidency is spectacle.   From displays of military hardware to fireworks and choreographed light shows, his government does not miss a chance to put on a show for the Salvadoran public.  And these spectacles are never produced just for the audience in attendance.  A mini-army of camera people, drone operators, live-streamers and producers choreograph and document every event, and then push it out through every social media channel available.  The refined art of spectacle was on display for El Salvador's Independence Day celebrations on September 15. During the day, the main event was a parade through the streets of San Salvador.  In recent years, the Independence Day parade has actually been two parades -- one is a "civic" parade filled with uniformed school children stepping in unison down the streets, marching bands, folk dancers and other displays of civic pride in which the national blue and white col...

The healthcare delivery system in El Salvador has three tiers, depending on how care is paid for.   In the bottom tier is the public hospital system.  This system, administered by the Ministry of Health, provides free or very low cost healthcare to Salvadorans of limited means who do not have employment in the formal economy. The middle tier is the social security hospital system (ISSS), which supports care for persons who work in the formal economy and who pay into the system along with their employers to receive healthcare and pension benefits from the government. The third tier is the private healthcare system. This is healthcare provided by private hospitals or doctors in private clinics whose charges are paid by the wealthy who can afford private health insurance. The country’s national healthcare plan is deemed a national secret and is not available to the public.   So we can only look at where the government is operating openly.  Hospital R...

Some of the leading stories from El Salvador over the last month.                  The Foreign Agents Law is now in effect.  This law requires organizations or individuals to register as "foreign agents" if they receive funds from abroad to finance activities in Salvadoran society.  Organizations like human rights groups Cristosal and FESPAD and transparency and good governance group Citizen Action have confirmed receiving the "foreign agent" label.  Absent being granted an exemption, all foreign agents must pay a 30% tax on funds received from abroad and must refrain from activities which the government believes disturb the social order.   Cristosal has left the country, FESPAD is closing , and Citizen Action says it will attempt to continue operating despite the 30% tax. Cristosal releases new report on corruption in prison system.  Despite being labelled a foreign agent and moving its operations outside of E...

Sad news from El Salvador with the sudden  death  yesterday of Jesuit Father Jose Maria ("Chema") Tojeira. He died while on a trip in Guatemala City.   Born in Spain, as a young Jesuit Tojeira came to Central America in 1969, first in Honduras, before coming to El Salvador during the civil war.  He was a fellow Jesuit of those massacred at the UCA in 1989, and continued in El Salvador until the time of his death as an outspoken voice for social justice and human rights.  Among other positions he served as rector of the UCA and later headed the University's human rights office. “Fr. Chema witnessed to the courageous love illuminated through the Gospel—standing with the vulnerable, searching tirelessly for truth after the murders of the UCA martyrs, and cultivating communities rooted in the love of Christ and the inherent dignity of all,” said Christopher Kerr, executive director of the Ignatian Solidarity Network .  Here is a 2015 video profile of his ...

Family remittances sent to El Salvador set a monthly record in May of almost $900 million. The flow of dollars into El Salvador from those living abroad during the first five months of the year was 16% higher than the same five month period in 2024, a very significant increase according to El Salvador's Central Reserve Bank . Remittances are already one fourth of El Salvador's economy.  The dollars earned abroad, overwhelmingly in the US, have lifted families out of poverty and are one of the chief engines of any economic growth in the country.   Economists interviewed in La Prensa Grafica pointed to Donald Trump's deportation policies as a main driver of the surge in remittances.  Families are sending money out of the US into bank accounts in El Salvador out of fear of being deported and losing access to their assets in the US. "If we look at the behavior of deposits in the financial system, they have grown enormously. The acceleration in remittance sending has oc...