El Salvador abolishes presidential term limits,
extends term length
Under the reformed electoral system, the previous five-year term is increased to six years and a restriction limiting presidents to a single term is removed, allowing El Salvador's executive to run for office an unlimited number of times.
Members of Bukele's New Ideas Party in the Legislative Assembly voted through the reform on Thursday, 18 months after Bukele won a second term in a landslide victory, despite a constitutional prohibition on consecutive terms. The Supreme Court, packed with pro-Bukele justices, waived the ban on grounds that it infringed Bukele's human rights.
Opposition politicians and human rights organizations condemned the move, saying it removed one of the last remaining checks on power and brought the country a step closer to becoming a one-party state.
"Today, democracy has died in El Salvador," said opposition Republican National Alliance MP Marcela Villatoro.
Human Rights Watch said it was a power grab by Bukele aimed at ushering in a dictatorship.
"He's very clearly following the path of leaders who use their popularity to concentrate power to undermine the rule of law and eventually to establish a dictatorship," said HRW Americas deputy director Juan Pappier.
Cristosal, El Salvador's leading human rights organization, which fled the country for Guatemala two weeks ago citing threats and intimidation against its staff, criticized the lack of process and the way the change was rushed through.
"The day before vacation, without debate, without informing the public, in a single legislative vote, they changed the political system to allow the president to perpetuate himself in power indefinitely and we continue to follow the well-travelled path of autocrats," said Cristosal executive Noah Bullock.
Bukele's popularity mainly stems from a crime crackdown, targeting gangs in particular, that has seen El Salvador transformed from one of the most violent nations in the world to one of the safest in the region.
However, he is a divisive figure among Salvadorans.
His policies, including the use of emergency powers to detain as many as 75,000 people without due process, have drawn fire from human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which has said El Salvador was engaged in a "gradual replacement of gang violence with state violence."
The United States got pulled into questions around El Salvador after Maryland resident Kilmar Abrego Garcia, an undocumented Salvadoran migrant, was detained in one of Bukele's notorious 'mega prisons' after being wrongly deported to El Salvador in violation of a 2019 court order that said he could not be deported there.
He was among a group of 261 inmates imprisoned in one of the huge penal facilities after being deported by the Trump administration, who it said were either members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang or the Salvadoran-dominated MS-13.
Abrego Garcia, who was accused of being a member of the MS-13, was returned to the United States in June at the request of the Justice Department to face federal migrant smuggling charges in Tennessee.
Guatemala pushes money laundering bill to avoid international sanctions
July 31 (UPI) -- The Guatemalan government has introduced key legislation to modernize its money laundering laws and prevent the country from being added to the international financial system's "gray list" -- a designation that could raise borrowing costs and limit access to credit.
President Bernardo Arévalo formally submitted the bill to Congress on Tuesday, calling it a strategic tool to strike at the "heart" of organized crime and drug trafficking.
During the launch of a program aimed at integrating Guatemalan companies into Walmart's supply chain in Central America, U.S. Ambassador Tobin Bradley stated that "the new anti-money laundering law is a platform for transparency and for attracting more investment to Guatemala."
The proposal updates laws from 2001 and 2005 that officials say are outdated and inadequate for confronting modern money laundering and illicit financing schemes.
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It expands the range of entities required to implement controls, report suspicious transactions and appoint compliance officers. The bill also includes reforms to the Penal Code, Commercial Code, Law Against Organized Crime and private security regulations.
If the reform is not approved and implemented this year, Guatemala risks being placed on the "gray list" of the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental organization created in 1989 by the G7.
The list includes jurisdictions with strategic deficiencies in their anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing systems. Countries on the list are under increased monitoring and must address shortcomings within set timeframes.
"Being added to this list would significantly restrict international transactions, raise the cost of external financing and, in turn, limit access to credit. It could also lead to local banks losing the ability to work with international banks, making it harder to carry out essential operations for the people of Guatemala -- such as remittances, international payments or letters of credit for exporters," Arévalo said.
The initiative's legislative prospects depend on the political support the government can secure among various blocs in Congress, where it holds a minority.
The executive branch said it has begun informal talks with congressional blocs and plans to make formal presentations to committees and party groups once Congress returns from recess.
Guatemala has faced warnings from Financial Action Task Force Latin America since 2022 for failing to pass key reforms. The Inter-American Development Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank have warned the country that without new legislation, a poor assessment will be inevitable at the next task force plenary meeting, which is likely in October.
The Arévalo administration views the reform as one of its most significant efforts to modernize the country's institutional framework.
Ecuador joins regional push to control
NGO funding
Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa has introduced a bill in the National Assembly to regulate the funding and activities of non-governmental organizations, particularly those that receive money from abroad.
The proposal would create a mandatory registry for nonprofit entities, require regular financial reporting and allow the government to suspend or revoke operating permits if NGOs engage in "activities incompatible with the national interest."
If approved, Ecuador would join a regional push that has taken shape over the past year in countries such as Peru, El Salvador and Paraguay.
According to the Ecuadorian government, the bill aims to bring greater transparency to the operations of NGOs, many of which it says operate without clearly disclosing their funding sources, international ties or true objectives.
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"I'm not attacking NGOs. Some of them do honorable work and help people in Ecuador. Those organizations won't have problems because they'll be able to explain where their money comes from," Noboa said.
Although the bill does not yet specify penalties, it would require organizations to disclose their donors, provide documentation for expenses and avoid political activities not explicitly authorized in their charters.
Civil society groups in Ecuador have voiced concern, warning the measure could open the door to arbitrary restrictions and potential censorship.
In March, Peru's Congress passed a law expanding the powers of the Peruvian Agency for International Cooperation to audit foreign-funded projects. The law allows fines of up to $500,000 and authorizes the suspension of organizations that use those funds to bring legal action against the state -- a common practice in human rights and Indigenous advocacy.
Despite opposition from more than 70 domestic NGOs and international groups, including the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Human Rights Watch, President Dina Boluarte's government defended the law as a way to "organize" international cooperation.
In El Salvador, the ruling-party-controlled legislature approved the Foreign Agents Law in May. The law imposes a 30% tax on foreign donations, requires registration in a special government registry and gives the executive branch authority to sanction or shut down organizations it accuses of meddling in domestic affairs.
Human rights groups have condemned the Salvadoran law, saying it restricts the work of humanitarian organizations and independent media.
In Paraguay, a regulation enacted in November 2024 requires all nonprofit organizations to register with the Ministry of Economy and Finance, file biannual reports on income and expenses and disclose any ties to international agencies.
The measure prohibits unregistered NGOs from signing agreements with the state and includes penalties ranging from suspension of activities to the permanent revocation of legal status.
Paraguayan and regional organizations have warned that the law criminalizes international cooperation and could seriously undermine human rights advocacy.
Critics say these measures echo laws previously adopted in Venezuela and Nicaragua, where "foreign agent" and "sovereignty defense" legislation has been used to shut down organizations that report human rights violations or criticize the government, under the pretext of foreign interference.
Governments backing these laws argue they aim to strengthen transparency, prevent illicit financing and block foreign influence.
But organizations including Amnesty International, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights and the IACHR warn the measures are part of a broader pattern of shrinking democratic space in the region, where state control is prioritized over civic participation.
