Photo of Daniel Alvarenga, used with his permission.

In recent weeks, El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, made headlines for renting out the country's mass prison to the United States. In March and April, under US President Donald Trump, the United States deported hundreds of Venezuelans and Salvadorans, without due process, to this facility in El Salvador, the Terrorism Confinement Center (known as CECOT), which has been reported for severe human rights abuses.

According to local human rights organizations, there have been nearly 400 confirmed deaths in El Salvador's prisons since 2022, with some estimates suggesting the number may have reached 1,000. Since El Salvador enacted the State of Exception in 2022, which suspends constitutional rights, the Bukele administration has detained around 80,000 people without due process for alleged gang ties. In this context, journalists have been under intense pressure — many have self-exiled and now work from abroad. Still others are from the diaspora, unable to return and cover the country from there.

A bit further north, the United States is facing a constitutional crisis after the Trump administration sent Salvadoran national Kilmar Abrego García to CECOT without legal authorization and then refused to take him back. Bukele’s administration also refused to return him, signaling a collapse of the rule of law in both countries.

These events have sent a chill through Latino communities in the United States, particularly among Salvadorans. About a quarter of El Salvador’s population — around 2.4 million people — lives in the US, with thousands of families having migrated north over the decades in search of safety and work.

Journalist Daniel Alvarenga is part of this Salvadoran demographic. Born in Los Angeles to a family that fled El Salvador’s civil war in the 1980s, Alvarenga has become an important voice for a generation of Salvadoran Americans — “salvis,” as they call themselves. Known for his sharp analysis and outspoken presence on social media, he has consistently challenged dominant narratives around Salvadoran identity, politics, and culture from a queer perspective.

His work has appeared in outlets such as AJ+, The Washington Post, and Rolling Stone, and in 2024, he co-produced the podcast series HUMO alongside Salvadoran media outlet Revista Factum. He also sends out the newsletter Púchica Danny.

Global Voices talked to Alvarenga about the role the diaspora can play in this critical moment. Reports point out that El Salvador's overwhelming diasporic support for Bukele has helped his popularity levels. This interview has been edited for clarity and brevity.

Global Voices (GV): You’ve been vocal about Bukele’s authoritarian tendencies for years. What initially made you realize this wasn’t “just another populist presidency,” but something more dangerous?

Daniel Alvarenga (DA): I have been very suspicious of Bukele since he was mayor of San Salvador. My first red flag was when he was kicked out of the leftist party, FMLN, for misogynistic remarks and actions against a councilwoman. But then he started flip-flopping on pro-LGBTQ+ stances and started courting far-right parties after he left the FMLN. The real alarm bell was on February 9, 2020, when Bukele stormed the Legislative Assembly, along with the Salvadoran Army, demanding funding for security. I was in the country at the time, and it felt like a regression.

GV: In your recent newsletter edition “It's a shameful time to be Salvadoran-American,” you mention that each generation in El Salvador has faced political violence. How has your own family history shaped the urgency with which you report on Bukele?

DA: My mother's family has been persecuted in El Salvador since they can remember. My family was very involved with the center-left Christian Democrat Party. And this was like in the 60s and 70s. And they were persecuted by the far right state party and intimidated with police threats.

When the [Salvadoran Civil] war happened, I lost two uncles to the conflict. And one uncle, Raúl Hernandez, was a medical student. He was reported to have been buried at the University of El Salvador, and we've been trying to look for his remains and investigate. But my family wasn't successful in investigating and bringing that case to justice because the Bukele regime kind of fired everyone in the prosecutor's office. We go into it in the podcast HUMO on how Bukele does not like the state investigating into disappearances.

But my family and the civil war… that really marked me and the fact that we've never had justice, and the effects that has had on my family, has always been really deeply felt by me.

And in modern day, you're seeing the Bukele regime use the state of exception to go after union workers, land defenders, and other opponents… It kind of reminds me of those days that my family lived through. Raúl was killed for organizing workers. This was in 1980.

GV: How would you describe Bukele's popularity among the Salvadoran diaspora in the US? Have you noted a recent shift in how he is perceived?

DA: Bukele is very popular with the diaspora. He has made a coordinated propaganda effort to reach out to the diaspora and get their votes. The Bukele administration counts on a very sophisticated propaganda machine, which includes influencers and content creators. A lot of them are crypto coin enthusiasts. Allegedly, he employs troll centers and has used spyware on journalists.

But what's been the most dangerous is the way that Bukele is successful in exploiting the nostalgia and the desire for safety that a lot of diaspora have. A lot of diaspora left during the war or they left during the years where there were lots of gang violence.

I'm starting to see the diaspora wake up, mostly because broader public opinion is changing. The scandals with Kilmar Abrego García and the kidnapped Venezuelans are opening a lot of people's eyes.

A lot of Americans and a lot of US Latinos of various nationalities are starting to look at El Salvador differently. And that is going to start affecting the perceptions of Salvadorans in the diaspora. But there are still a lot of people who are in denial. And I know this because they often end up in my inbox.

GV: Why do you think so many Salvadorans in the diaspora have embraced Bukele despite mounting evidence of state violence?

DA: I think Salvadorans genuinely want relief from the years of gang violence. It's important to acknowledge that that is a very valid desire to live a life of safety away from violence. But the gang problem has been weaponized — instead of eliminating the violence, the Bukele regime and the state have a monopoly on violence. And, in El Salvador, if you look at its history with military dictatorships, with war, it has set a very bad precedent when it comes to state violence and human rights. But I think a lot of people are still in denial.

What ends up happening with a lot of Salvadorans is that, only when someone they know is affected, someone they know who is not involved with gangs and gets abducted by the Bukele regime, that's when the reality hits. And it's unfortunate it has to come to that, but I think that's also the case with the US. A lot of people were pro-Bukele until they realized that if they make a wrong step, they could end up in El Salvador's prison. So it's one of those things where people don't care until it affects them, unfortunately.

GV: Why is the Salvadoran diaspora such an important lever in Salvadoran politics — both in terms of influence and responsibility? Has that role evolved under Bukele’s government?

DA: The Salvadoran vote. Past administrations expanded the diaspora vote, but Bukele has gotten even more participation than years prior.

One thing that he's done differently with the diasporic vote is that these votes don't get tallied in the community where people are from, like the departamento [district] they live in, etc. Diaspora votes now get counted in San Salvador.

And San Salvador is the most consequential city. It's the capital. It basically decides the presidential election, often. So he's using the diaspora vote to leverage and sway San Salvador to his favor.

But one thing that I've noticed is people are starting to debate the diaspora vote. I'm starting to notice that a lot of critical Salvadorans are expressing that the diaspora shouldn't vote because they don't have to live with the consequences of their actions.

GV: With nearly 400 deaths officially reported in Salvadoran prison — and very possibly more — what would accountability look like to you, both locally and internationally?

DA: I think Bukele needs to be tried for crimes against humanity when all of this is over and done. So far, we know that there are nearly 400 people who have died in his prisons with no due process. Organizations like Socorro Jurídico Humanitario say that though they've counted almost 400 dead — that's confirmed. The real number could be over 1,000. We don't know the true number of Bukele's crimes against humanity, but I say we should hand him over to the International Criminal Court, the ICC, like the Philippines did recently with Duterte, and let them figure it out.

GV: What are some tangible steps you believe people — especially the diaspora — can take right now to support change?

DA: I would say first, educate yourself and then speak out on what's going on. Amnesty International and CISPES (the Committee on Solidarity with the People of El Salvador) have resources on how to get educated and they have calls to actions and can help you get involved.

As far as educating yourself with news, I would say that El Faro, Revista Factum, and Alharaca in El Salvador and El País in Spain are all doing excellent reporting. And every day, more mainstream US news covers the situation in El Salvador. So I just tell people, don't look away when these news stories come across your screen.

Engage with it. Share it. Talk to your elders. I tell people to talk to their elders all the time. Ask them if there was ever a time they disagreed with the government or ask them if there was ever a time during the war that disobeying orders saved a life or not.

I think we all have a responsibility as diaspora in the US to be more informed of our communities and to protect the most vulnerable. And right now, a lot of people are turning a blind eye to what's really going on in El Salvador because people feel warm and fuzzy with the propaganda. They want to hear just good things about El Salvador, that El Salvador is on the mend, that El Salvador is doing better.

You know, there's a saying in Spanish, “no se puede tapar el sol con el dedo” [“you can't cover the sun with one finger,” meaning “you can't deny what's obvious”]. And I think we really need to, as a diaspora, really internalize that. Because the Bukele administration is now beyond denial. The reality is just going to become clearer and clearer as we find out more.