
El Salvador
El Salvador
Structural violence and government control
The media are among the victims of the widespread violence and drug trafficking in El Salvador, one of Latin America’s most dangerous countries. Several journalists have been murdered or physically attacked in recent years. El Salvador’s legislation provides the media with little protection, and officials harass and threaten journalists who try to investigate corruption or government finances. The authorities tried to intimidate a team of investigative reporters for the online magazine Factum in February 2019 in a bid to get them to reveal their sources for a story that embarrassed the government. Nayib Bukele, who took office as the new president in June 2019, has often criticized the media, going so far as to compile a list of journalists he accuses of being “political opponents acting in a Manichaean fashion with the intention of destabilizing the government.”
Ranking
+7
81 in 2019
Global score
-0.11
29.81 in 2019