Bishops of El Salvador oppose country being used as ‘international prison’
El Salvador's massive Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT, by its Spanish acronym). / Credit: Courtesy of Office of the President of El Salvador, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
ACI Prensa Staff, May 31, 2025 / 10:00 am (CNA).
As El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele marks his sixth anniversary in office, the country’s Catholic bishops have published a pastoral letter warning of the risk of turning the Central American nation into a “large international prison” and demanding an end to the state of emergency.
In a May 29 letter, the Salvadoran Bishops’ Conference stated that their intention is not “to contradict the national authorities, as we are well aware of the efforts they are making to govern the country for the benefit of the people.”
They also make it clear that their observations are not in support of “any partisan ideological interest, nor to the interests of powerful groups. What truly moves us is the good of the people.”
“With our voice, we want to make audible the cries of the poor people and the vast majority whose rights are violated, perhaps not with malicious intent; but violated, because in the midst of such an intense reality, it can happen that their barely perceptible voice may not be audible,” the letter reads.
*‘Mega-prison’ criticized*
Specifically, the prelates asked Salvadoran authorities “not to use our country’s prisons for victims of the anti-immigrant policies of foreign powers.”
In their letter, they pointedly criticize the stance taken following the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February, when Bukele offered to receive “dangerous American criminals, including U.S. citizens,” as well as “illegal immigrants from any other country” at the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT, by its Spanish acronym) instead of deporting them to their home country.
The CECOT, popularly known as the “mega-prison,” is a maximum-security prison inaugurated in January 2023 and capable of holding up to 40,000 inmates.
“We ask our leaders not to promote this country as if it were a large international prison. We implore them to think carefully about what they’re doing. Bringing in major criminals could become a danger to our population as well as earn this nation a bad international reputation,” the bishops warned.
As an alternative, they called for “promoting a pro-migrant policy, with the borders open to migrants and integration into the economy as a labor force. Furthermore, a portion of the Salvadoran population is also migrants, and we would not like our fellow citizens to be imprisoned in other nations.”
Another of the demands put forward by the bishops is “to repeal the state of emergency,” a measure in force since March 2022 in the country as part of the government’s strategy to combat criminal gangs.
The state of emergency allows for the constitutional suspension of rights such as freedom of assembly, the inviolability of communications, the right to be informed of the reasons for one’s arrest, and access to legal representation, among others. According to Human Rights Watch, this measure has opened “the door to human rights violations.”
Although the bishops acknowledge that “at one time it was necessary to curb the violence and it was considered successful due to its results. But time has passed, and we believe it is no longer necessary.”
“It’s a matter of allowing the people to exercise their freedom without any pressure. The people cannot continue doing good, behaving properly, and obeying the laws for fear of the consequences of the state of emergency. … Doing good out of fear is coercion, and doing it out of obligation is repression,” the bishops stated.
*Human rights defenders ‘persecuted’*
In another part of the letter, the bishops condemned the “persecution of human rights defenders simply for carrying out their duties.” This comes after the arrest of lawyer Ruth Eleonora López. According to Human Rights Watch, this case “is part of a series of repressive actions pushed by the government, which has shown increasing hostility toward journalists, union leaders, and human rights defenders.”
In this regard, the bishops requested that “if applicable there are any prisoners held for no other reason than defending human rights, their cases should be studied and they should be immediately released.” They also urged a “very objective” review of all cases of those imprisoned “to ensure that those who are innocent are released as soon as possible.”
This story was first published by ACI Prensa, CNA’s Spanish-language news partner. It has been translated and adapted by CNA.