San Salvador (AFP) โ A Salvadoran lawyer and fierce critic of President Nayib Bukele was arrested Saturday on charges of money laundering, the prosecutor's office said, a move branded by human rights organizations as an offensive to silence those who question the government.
Bukele's hardline approach to El Salvador's powerful gangs has made him one of the world's most domestically popular leaders, even as human rights defenders raise alarm over arbitrary arrests and eroding civil liberties.
Enrique Anaya, a constitutional lawyer, who has called Nayib a "dictator" and criticized his reelection, was arrested at his home in the city of Santa Tecla.
Images of Anaya handcuffed alongside police officers were shared on social media by the Attorney General's Office, which stated that he will be referred to the courts in the coming days for "money and asset laundering."
It comes after the detention this year of fellow lawyer Ruth Lopez, head of an anti-corruption unit of human rights NGO Cristosal, who was accused of embezzling state funds when she worked for an electoral court a decade ago.
El Salvador's constitution does not allow successive presidential terms, but a Bukele-stacked Supreme Court allowed him to run, and he was reelected in February 2024.
Bukele, who won 85 percent of the votes thanks to his war against gangs, accuses his critics of leftist political activism and last week warned that "corrupt opposition members" are not untouchable.
"I don't care if they call me a dictator. I'd rather be called a dictator than see Salvadorans killed in the streets," he said in a speech Sunday.
Anaya responded on a television program Tuesday that Bukele had removed "the mask," adding "he is what he is."
"Here, whoever speaks, whoever criticizes, whoever does not kneel before the idol, gets imprisoned. Of course, I am afraid," Anaya said.
He said in his last X post on Friday that "the Bukelean dictatorship is increasingly questioned and confronted internationally," referencing criticism from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) regarding the arrest of Lopez's and other activists.
Lopez has criticized Bukele's anti-crime policy, which has seen thousands of alleged gangsters arrested and jailed in harsh conditions.
Her NGO Cristosal helps families of Salvadorans caught up in Bukele's crackdown on gangs, as well as more than 250 Venezuelans deported by the Trump administration, which paid El Salvador to imprison them.
"It's part of what we're living through. Unfortunately, Enrique's situation is similar to Ruth's case," said Anaya's defense attorney, Jaime Quintanilla.
In a statement, Cristosal described Anaya as a "key figure in defending democratic institutions and constitutional order."
"His arrest is part of a troubling escalation of criminalization against those who defend the rule of law in El Salvador," he added.
An environmental lawyer and an evangelical pastor supporting a farmers' protest were arrested in May, and in February Fidel Zavala, a human rights activist, was accused of ties to gangs.
Last month, Bukele's allies in the Legislative Assembly imposed a Foreign Agents Law levying a 30 percent tax on organizations receiving overseas funding and requiring them to join a special registry.
The European Union said on Saturday that the law "could restrict society" and lamented the arrests, which Bukele responded to on X, calling it an "aged bloc" of bureaucrats who insist "on preaching to the rest of the world."
Bukele accuses NGOs of defending criminals and has accused the media of joining an "organized attack" spearheaded by international groups.
Anaya has stated on several occasions in interviews that Bukele's legacy will be one of "human rights violations" and "destruction of democracy."