SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — The authorities in El Salvador have raided the offices of seven social service and advocacy groups in an embezzlement investigation that rights advocates charge is part of a politically motivated crackdown on independent voices. The raids on Monday came as the country’s Legislative Assembly ​​considered a bill that would require any groups or individuals who receive funding from abroad to register with the Interior Ministry as foreign agents, a condition that critics say could severely limit the work of journalists and civil society. In a statement, the attorney general’s office said the raids had been carried out as part of an investigation launched by the Assembly into “a series of abnormalities that may have arisen in the process of adjudication, execution and monitoring of funds from the Salvadoran state.” A spokesman for the president’s office did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The raids are the latest example of President Nayib Bukele’s assault on democratic norms and institutions, critics say, with the charismatic young leader increasingly using his party’s control of the Assembly to chip away at judicial independence and undermine opposition.

Source: New York Times November 24, 2021 04:50 UTC