‘We know what’s coming: exile or prison’ – El Faro’s Óscar Martínez on surviving Bukele’s crackdown
Journalists at El Faro knew the risks when they published a series of interviews with gang members alleging long-standing ties between Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and criminal groups. They didn’t know how quickly the crackdown would escalate. Within days of publication last month, sources close to El Salvador’s attorney general’s office warned that arrest warrants…
Salvadoran congress approves ‘foreign agents’ law that threatens press freedom
Mexico City, May 30, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday called on El Salvador to repeal a newly enacted “foreign agents” law that poses a serious threat to press freedom by targeting media outlets, nonprofit organizations, and individual journalists who receive international funding. “President Nayib Bukele’s foreign agents law is a blatant move to…
‘The infections were constant:’ Julia Gavarrete among dozens of Salvadoran journalists targeted with Pegasus spyware
The day El Faro reporter Julia Gavarrete’s father passed away, her phone was infected with Pegasus spyware that could activate the microphone and camera, and read all her messages – one of multiple occasions her privacy was invaded with the tool over the course of several months. Gavarrete made this disturbing discovery while cooperating with…
CPJ joins statement condemning use of Pegasus spyware to target journalists in El Salvador
The Committee to Protect Journalists today called on Salvadoran authorities to respond to the discovery of Pegasus spyware on cellphones belonging to at least 30 journalists in El Salvador, joining 14 organizations, media outlets, and individuals in a public statement available in English and Spanish. The statement identified “one of the most persistent and intensive…
Mexican journalist Daniel Lizárraga expelled from El Salvador
Los Angeles, July 12, 2021 — Salvadoran authorities should reverse their decision to expel Mexican journalist Daniel Lizárraga and allow him to work freely in the country, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. On July 6, immigration authorities notified Lizárraga, a Mexican citizen and an editor for the independent Salvadoran news website El Faro,…
Without offering proof, Salvadoran President Bukele alleges money laundering investigation into El Faro news website
Managua, Nicaragua, September 30, 2020 – Salvadoran authorities should make public any details about an alleged money laundering investigation into the El Faro news website, and cease harassing independent media outlets, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. In a news conference on September 24, President Nayib Bukele announced that El Faro, an independent news…
El Salvador bans 2 investigative outlets from press conferences at presidential residence
Amsterdam, September 11, 2019 — Salvadoran authorities should stop blocking investigative digital outlets El Faro and Revista Factum from attending press conferences at the Presidential House, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Two Salvadoran news websites threatened for their reporting
New York, August 28, 2017–Salvadoran authorities must conduct a swift and credible investigation of escalating online and physical threats against journalists at two digital news outlets and enact sufficient measures to ensure the journalists’ safety, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.
Óscar Martínez: Trust and safety for journalists and sources is vital in El Salvador
Óscar Martínez knows first-hand the dangers of reporting on crime and gang violence. The co-founder of Sala Negra (Black Room)–an investigative reporting project run by the El Salvadoran new outlet El Faro–says he and his colleagues have been threatened and harassed for their hard-hitting coverage. But, Martínez says, their sources are equally at risk of…