Spanish
San Salvador.- Transgender women's organizations and those defending the human rights of LGBTI people in El Salvador warned this Friday that the Foreign Agents Law, proposed by President Nayib Bukele, "will provoke" a "witch hunt" against members of NGOs of civil society.
Mónica Linares Hernández, spokesperson for the Asociación Solidaria para Impulsar el Desarrollo Humano (Aspidh Arcoiris), explained in a press conference that the work of organizations that defend the rights of LGBTI people has been affected by cuts or withdrawal of funds "by order of President" Donald Trump.
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"Now with the Foreign Agents Law, the few funds that can be obtained as civil society organizations, which do carry out organized work for the defense of the human rights of populations and that the State should be doing, we are going to be even more with our hands tied behind our backs," said Mónica Linares.
The spokesperson for Aspidh Arcoiris, an organization that provides free psychological assistance and legal advice, commented that "the worst part of the case is that we cannot make a manifesto, we cannot hold a march, we cannot protest because we are silenced by the state of exception."
El Salvador is under a state of exception, implemented three years ago against gangs and which suspends some constitutional guarantees, which has left thousands of detentions, most of them arbitrary, according to different human rights organizations.
"For us, it is definitely the beginning of a witch hunt that the Salvadoran State has against LGBTIQ+ organizations and against organizations in general that defend the human rights of people in a context of vulnerability and poverty," she said.
President Nayib Bukele announced this week that he would send a Foreign Agents Law to the Legislative Assembly to impose a 30% tax on donations from social organizations.
A similar law was proposed in 2021, which was not approved, but the tax for NGOs was 40% of their income.
