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LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

LATIN AMERICA ADVISOR

A daily publication Of the dialogue

June 2, 2025

Why Has El Salvador Approved a New Foreign Agents Law?

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has said the country’s new “foreign agents” law will limit foreign influence in the Central American country, but critics say it will lead to crackdowns on dissent. // File Photo: @nayibbukele via X.

Q

  • El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly on May 20 approved a “foreign agents” law, proposed by President Nayib Bukele, who said the measure will limit foreign influence and corruption. However, critics say the law will lead to crackdowns on civil society and independent journalists. The law imposes a 30 percent tax on donations to nongovernmental organizations that receive foreign funding, some of which have been critical of Bukele’s government. In 2021, Bukele pushed a similar measure that would have required organizations that receive monetary support to register as “foreign agents,” but the proposal collapsed amid international criticism. What are the most significant parts of the law? What does the measure mean for nongovernmental organizations and journalists in El Salvador? To what extent are international actors taking issue with it?

A

Katya Salazar, executive director of the Due Process of Law Foundation: “Inspired by similar laws in Hungary, Russia, Nicaragua and Venezuela, the foreign agents law passed in El Salvador is a direct attack on the work of civil society organizations—including investigative journalism—and goes against international standards (such as those recently issued by bodies like the OAS Inter-American Juridical Committee) that protect the rights of association and freedom of expression in the hemisphere. The law obliges any natural or legal person whose activities in El Salvador ‘respond to interests or are financed’ by foreign actors to register with a new state entity (Registro de Agentes Extranjeros, or RAEX) and pay a 30 percent tax on funds received. The law’s terms are vague; depending on its interpretation, it…”

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