May 31, 2026, marked two years since the arrest of 10 leaders of the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador, accused without evidence of plotting a terrorist attack during Bukele's June 1, 2024, inauguration for an unconstitutional consecutive presidential term. Veterans of El Salvador's armed conflict (1980-1992), both former members of the Salvadoran Armed Forces and former revolutionary combatants, joined together in 2021 to form the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador to confront Bukele's consolidation of power and constitutional violations.

What follows are the introductory remarks delivered at a press conference hosted on May 27th by the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc (BRP), the National Coordinator for the Defense of the Salvadoran People’s Health (CONADESA), the Movement of Victims of the Regime (MOVIR) and labor unions from various public institutions to assess the seven years of Nayib Bukele’s government, highlighting the democratic, economic, and social deterioration in the country. The press conference took place in the leadup to the seven year anniversary of Bukele coming to power in 2019.

Transcript translated by CISPES:

"Thank you very much to the media outlets, and to all the comrades who have participated in this call by the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc, as well as other organizations such as CONADESA and labor unions from different sectors. Today, we want to present an assessment of the seven years of government under the Bukele business clan, two of which correspond to an unconstitutional government that has relied on illegality.

In this context, we also want to speak out about another year of imprisonment suffered by our compañeros from the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador. We continue to demand the freedom of these comrades who were arrested nearly two years ago. These arrests took place in a context in which government authorities attempted to create a narrative that our comrades — social activists and human rights defenders — were supposedly planning terrorist acts, something that is completely false.

Among those arrested from the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador is also a community journalist, our compañero Luis Menjívar, a sociology student who remains arbitrarily detained. He was not even part of the veterans’ collective, since, due to his age, he did not belong to that sector. Nevertheless, he was arrested for his work with the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador. We, as the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc, continue demanding his release.

Bukele’s unconstitutional government was inaugurated through the violation of these individuals’ fundamental rights. Not only has their freedom been restricted, but their health has also seriously deteriorated. Some have even been at risk of losing their lives, as in the case of Atilio Montalvo, who was finally released [conditionally] from pre-trial imprisonment on humanitarian grounds.

However, our other comrades from the National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador continue to face similar conditions, with deteriorating health and inadequate living conditions. The vast majority of those arrested suffer from chronic illnesses related to their age and are not receiving the care they require.

In other words, the Bukele government is not only a government that fails to comply with the law, but also one that creates conditions that put the lives of detained individuals at risk."

Following this introduction, the Popular Resistance and Rebellion Bloc went on to address broader concerns regarding seven years of the Bukele government. View full press conference (in Spanish) here. Read CISPES' coverage in English here and in Spanish here.