San Francisco Frontiers - Bukele critics face long exile from El Salvador homeland

At 44 years old, the self-styled world's "coolest dictator" has been in power for six years, and has just scrapped constitutional term limits, raising the prospect he could rule for many more.

For good measure, he and his allies also passed a "foreign agents" law, similar to those used to crush dissent in Russia, Venezuela and Nicaragua.

Against this backdrop, about 80 human rights activists, journalists, lawyers and environmentalists have left El Salvador in the last four months, according to an AFP tally, fleeing what they call "escalating repression" and the risk of imprisonment.

AFP spoke to several of those in exile. Here are the stories of four.

Bukele's government did not respond to requests for comment. But the president -- popular with Salvadorans for his "war" on gangs that once ravaged the country -- accuses his critics of "distorting" and "manipulating" the truth.

- The human rights activist -

Ingrid Escobar's left arm is bandaged. Shortly after fleeing her homeland with her nine- and 11-year-old children, she underwent surgery for a tumor, leaving a wound that has yet to heal.

"I prioritized my health, my freedom, and my children," says the director of Socorro Juridico (Legal Aid), which assists prisoners' families.

Now in Mexico, the 43-year-old recalls how police patrolled near her home "twice a week."

She lived in that shadow until a friend from the prosecutor's office warned her that she was on a list of 11 people about to be arrested.

"I had no choice" but to leave she said. "Because of the intimidation and fear of dying in prison without medical treatment."

"I grabbed some clothes and left when I could," she said.

The prospect of being jailed in El Salvador is not far-fetched.

Escobar has been a staunch critic of Bukele's state of emergency, which was imposed in 2022 and has led to about 88,000 people being detained.

The government accuses them all of being gang members. But with scant evidence or due process, no one knows for sure.

Escobar insists that among the prisoners are "thousands of innocents."

An estimated 433 have died in prison, although the true figure may never be known.

Her organization continues to operate in El Salvador, but they are at "high risk," Escobar laments.

"Consolidating the dictatorship involves imprisoning human rights defenders to silence them," she claimed.

"There is no such thing as a 'cool dictatorship.'"

- The Lawyer -

Ruth Lopez was already in pyjamas when police arrived to arrest her on the night of May 18.

The lawyer, who led the anti-corruption unit of the humanitarian NGO Cristosal, was herself was accused of illicit enrichment by a Bukele-aligned prosecutor.

Her high-profile arrest marked a turning point.

A month later, her colleague Rene Valiente, head of investigations, went into exile along with 20 other Cristosal activists.

"There were attacks on social networks, stigmatization of our work, surveillance by security forces," recounts the 39-year-old lawyer from Cristosal's office in Guatemala.

A constitutional lawyer and an environmental lawyer were also arrested in May and June, and the "foreign agents law" stipulated strict new laws for NGOs, including a 30 percent tax on their income.

Amid all this, the US administration of President Donald Trump has been notably muted in its condemnation.

Valiente and Lopez continue to advise the families of the 252 Venezuelans deported from the United States and who spent four months in the mega-prison Bukele built for gang members.

"He exercises repression because he has the validation of the United States and has undermined democratic checks and balances" said Valiente.

"We will continue working from here for a country that doesn't have to choose between security, or rights," he said.

- The Environmentalist -

When the Bukele-controlled Congress lifted the ban on metal mining last December, many Salvadorans took to the streets to protest.

An environmental leader with a decade's standing, Amalia Lopez could not be absent.

But after helping file a legal challenge against the new rules the 45-year-old was forced to retreat from the fight and leave her country in April.

"I felt watched. I thought about protecting myself, letting the pressure subside, and returning, but I am no longer safe there," she told AFP from Costa Rica.

In May, an environmental defender and a community leader protesting with farmers near Bukele's residence were detained.

"With such overwhelming military and political power, we can't do much," said Lopez, who also defends communities' rights to water and land threatened by "powerful economic groups."

All her work and affections "were left there" she said.

"With indefinite re-election, an early return is impossible. Now it's an increasingly distant reality."

- The Journalist -

Jorge Beltran still has his suitcases packed because he's seeking asylum in another country.

The 55-year-old left El Salvador for Guatemala on June 14 "totally devastated," without his wife and children.

"I am emotionally unwell. But in El Salvador, practicing free and critical journalism is no longer safe," he said from his small rented room.

A journalist for 23 years, Beltran is one of 47 reporters who have gone into exile in recent months, according to the professional association APES.

Working for El Diario de Hoy, he denounced what he called "corrupt Bukele officials and human rights violations."

It was no easy task, Beltran said, as the government "closed access to public documents."

He decided to leave when people close to power warned him he was being targeted by the police.

"It's a very bitter pill," he said. Now the prospect of Bukele's indefinite re-election "erases the hope of returning in just a few years."

Although he is currently unemployed, Beltran plans to create a website to report from abroad on what is happening in El Salvador.

"I will be far away, but I will not be silent," he insisted.

C.Diaz--SFF