Salvadoran investigative outlet El Faro says its shareholders’ assets are being frozen by the Bukele administration in response to its reporting. Multiple reports state that at least a bank account and a property are affected. El Faro and other outlets describe the action as retaliation for the outlet’s work exposing alleged corruption connected to President Nayib Bukele, including coverage that links the president to alleged dealings with gang members.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) calls the freeze an act of harassment and urges the government to immediately unfreeze the affected accounts and property. CPJ says the Ministry of Finance is being used in a way that targets the press and that the government’s actions form part of a broader pattern. The available reporting also links the freeze to an alleged tax debt, according to the account cited by one outlet.
Across the sources, there is agreement that El Faro reports financial assets have been frozen, that the measures include specific assets such as a bank account and property, and that press-freedom groups characterize the move as retaliation. The reports present the government’s stated rationale as involving taxes, while El Faro frames it as political persecution.
