On 25 February 2025, police and the Attorney General’s Office in El Salvador cracked down on human rights defenders and residents of Hacienda La Floresta, San Juan Opico, who were resisting the eviction of families. During the operation, the non governmental organisation UNIDEHC had its headquarters raided and its spokesperson Fidel Zavala was arbitrarily detained – together with more than 20 community leaders. Recently, UNIDEHC and Zavala were involved in the defense of Hacienda La Floresta community, filling several actions before public authorities for arbitrary detentions of community leaders.
The defenders and community leaders were accused as alleged members of a network of scammers who traded lands, and are currently detained awaiting trials.
On 13–14 March 2025, a court specialising in organised crime ordered preventive detention for 25 residents, including Fidel Zavala. Prosecutors accused UNIDEHC of being a “front NGO” and charged the defendants with illicit association and irregular land sales. The residents claim they had lived there for 12 years and sought legal recognition of their property rights. On 18 March 2025, additional UNIDEHC spokespersons, Ivania Cruz and Rudy Joya, faced similar charges.
Zavala is also facing two other criminal cases. On 17 March, a retrial began for a fraud case in which he was previously acquitted, and on 14 March 2025, he was notified of a third fraud-related prosecution.