Bukele Ushers In a New Era of Political Prisoners in El Salvador

Between 2021 and 2023, there were 11 political prisoners in El Salvador, according to U.S. government records. A committee of relatives of persecuted and imprisoned Salvadorans registered 28 people as political prisoners as of March 2025. A closer look reveals illegal imprisonments that violate court orders for release; deaths of prisoners who have not been tried; politically motivated arrests; and prosecutors and judges loyal to Nayib Bukele’s political project. Political prisoners, that thing of the past, have returned to El Salvador.