FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 21, 2025

Press Contact: press@alianzaamericas.org 

Cindy Cruz - El Salvador +503 7803 8465

Sandra Díaz - Estados Unidos (773) 638-4278

The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador has approved the Foreign Agents Law, which establishes a mandatory registry for donors and civil society organizations (NGOs) that receive funds from abroad and imposes a 30% tax on their income and donations.

Alianza Americas condemns the approval of this law, which will significantly impact organizations that provide services to the communities that need them most, especially in areas where the State has no capacity to respond.

‍This law not only harms NGOs and aid workers, but also the Salvadorans who depend on their services: healthcare, education, human rights defense, humanitarian assistance, environmental protection, and more.

Although President Nayib Bukele and the ruling party justify the law as a defense of sovereignty and transparency against external influences, in practice they present aid workers as agents of interference or threats to national security and promote a discourse of suspicion and hostility that jeopardizes the integrity and legitimacy of humanitarian and human rights work in a country that urgently needs it.

The law was passed through a waiver of procedure, a mechanism that allows committee analysis, public debate, and democratic deliberation to be avoided, evidence of a deliberate attempt to stifle citizen participation. Implementation will be the responsibility of the executive branch and exempt from judicial oversight, which is unjustifiable and continues to weaken a deeply eroded democracy and rule of law.

Closing the doors to international cooperation does not strengthen the country, but rather weakens it. El Salvador depends heavily on global solidarity, as evidenced by its history marked by migration, tourism, foreign trade, and international aid.

Alianza Americas urgently calls for a halt to the implementation of this law, for the sake of vulnerable communities and the democratic future of the country.

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Alianza Americas is the premier transnational advocacy network of Latin American migrant-led organizations working in the United States, across the Americas, and globally to create an inclusive, equitable and sustainable way of life for communities across North, Central and South America.

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