Security & Strategic Review - April 2026

El Salvador’s authoritarian President Nayib Bukele and his Nuevas Ideas (NI) government are facing renewed criticism over the state of human rights under the state of exception first implemented in March 2022 to tackle gangs, which remains in place. This March a panel of international jurists found reasonable grounds to conclude that crimes against humanity are being committed under the state of exception. Also last month a new report by prominent human rights group Cristosal looked at how El Salvador’s judicial system is being used to target government critics. Such concerns are unlikely to cause Bukele to lose much sleep however given his high popularity due to the sharp fall in homicides under the state of exception [SSR-26-03], and his strong alliance with US President Donald Trump.