MEXICO CITY — El Salvador's top human rights organization, Cristosal, announced Thursday it is leaving the country because of mounting harassment and legal threats by the government of President Nayib Bukele.
The organization has been one of the most visible critics of Bukele, documenting abuses in the strongman's war on the country's gangs and the detention of hundreds of Venezuelan deportees in an agreement with U.S. President Donald Trump.
Bukele's government has long targeted opponents, but Cristosal Executive Director Noah Bullock said things reached a tipping point in recent months as Bukele has grown empowered by his alliance with Trump.
''The clear targeting of our organization has made us choose between exile or prison," Bullock said in an interview with the Associated Press. ''The Bukele administration has unleashed a wave of repression over the past few months ... There's been an exodus of civil society leaders, professionals and even businessmen.''
El Salvador 's government did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Cristosal has been working in El Salvador since 2000, when it was founded by Evangelical bishops in order to address human rights and democratic concerns following the country's brutal civil war.
On Thursday, the human rights organization announced that it packed up its offices and moved 20 employees from the Central American nation to neighboring Guatemala and Honduras. Cristosal quietly got staff and their families out before publicly announcing they were leaving out of fear that they could be targeted by the Bukele government.
The decision came after its top anti-corruption lawyer Ruth López was jailed in June on enrichment charges, which the organization denies.