El Salvador: COFAPPES denounce political persecution after former FMLN minister imprisoned

Published at: 19/08/2025 11:21 AM

Last Monday, the former Minister of Justice and Security of El Salvador, Benito Lara, was arrested at the Isidro Menéndez Judicial Center. The private action occurred in the context of a trial in which Lara is accused of participating in negotiations with gangs, for the crimes of electoral fraud and illegal groups, the arrest decision, according to the defense, had not been requested by the Attorney General's Office (FGR).

In this regard, the Committee of Relatives of Persons Imprisoned and Politically Persecuted in El Salvador (COFAPPES) issued a statement describing the arrest as a “political persecution and imprisonment”.

The Committee maintains that it is “false that the judge alleges that there was a danger of flight”, since Lara always complied with alternative measures, calling into question the judge's contradiction and accusing him of acting “without independence, under the orders of the ruling regime to criminalize and condemn the opposition”.

COFAPPES demanded the “immediate release” of the former minister, arguing that, after five years, the Public Prosecutor's Office has failed to present incriminating evidence.

Benito Lara was a senior leader of the leftist Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMLN) that governed the country from 2009 to 1019, Telesur said. According to the prosecution's accusation, Lara and other delegates from the Arena and FMLN parties held negotiations with leaders of the criminal organizations Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18, to support them in different elections.

Mazo News Team