Unknown content type | CISPES: Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador

On June 7, a delegation from Socorro Jurídico Humanitario (Humanitarian Legal Aid), which represents and advocates for the tens of thousands of innocent people currently imprisoned under El Salvador’s State of Exception, held a press conference in Washington, D.C. to close out their visit to the U.S. While in Washington, DC and New York, attorneys and advocates from the legal aid group, accompanied by representatives of the Center for Exchange and Solidarity (CIS) met with U.S.

On May 30 and May 31, 2024, police in El Salvador arrested nine leaders of the prominent opposition group Alianza Nacional El Salvador en Paz (National Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador). Among them were two historic leaders of the leftist Farabundo Marti National Liberation Front (FMLN), José Santos Melara and Atilio Montalvo, one of the signers of the 1992 Peace Accords.

Marked by displays of military might and religious zeal, Nayib Bukele was sworn in to a second consecutive term as El Salvador’s president on June 1, 2024, an unconstitutional act that the country has not seen since the 1930s military dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez. To social movement groups in El Salvador, June 1 marks the beginning of “a new stage of struggle.”

Marked by displays of military might and religious zeal, Nayib Bukele was sworn in to a second consecutive term as El Salvador’s president on June 1, an unconstitutional act that the country has not seen since the 1930s military dictatorship of Maximiliano Hernandez Martinez. Days before the inauguration, ten leaders of Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador, a prominent opposition group, were arrested.

The family of Atilio Montalvo, a historic leader of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN), and signer of the 1992 Peace Accords has spoken out, demanding his release. Montalvo was arrested on May 31, along with seven other leaders of the Alliance for a Peaceful El Salvador (Alianza Nacional El Salvador en Paz).

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"I am a CISPES supporter because continuing to fight for social justice and a more people-centered country means continuing the dream and sacrifice of thousands of my fellow Salvadorans who died for that vision.” - Padre Carlos, New York City