The recent freezing and dismantling of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has not only affected social programmes and funding for civil society actors in El Salvador but has also led to an increase in negative discourse against civil society. On 8 February 2025, the President of the Republic, Nayib Bukele, alleged that USAID funds had been misused by journalists, independent media, and other civil society actors as part of a global money laundering operation. This came a few days after he had also reportedly claimed that most of the funds were channelled to fund opposition groups, civil society organisations with political agendas, and destabilising movements. These statements are part of a broader pattern of stigmatisation and discrediting of civil society, which has also been echoed by state media.
