El Faro (El Salvador) : Of Dictatorships and Decent Citizens: Wir Haben Es Nicht Gewusst

Opinion:

Friday, July 25th, 2025
Ricardo Avelar

“Wir haben es nicht gewusst.” We didn’t know anything.

This was the excuse used in the late 1940s by thousands of “good Germans.” That is how those who never participated directly in the crimes of Nazi Germany justified their inaction, silence, and passivity in the face of the horrors of the Holocaust.

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El Salvador is living under a dictatorship, even if your daily life does not seem to have changed. The long authoritarian night has begun, even if your Instagram feed is full of reels showing off trendy spots on sparkling beaches, to the rhythm of that same Bad Bunny verse.

Choose whichever indicator you prefer, and the result will inevitably be the same.

All power is concentrated in a single person.
This person has the security forces and the justice system at their disposal.
Whenever this person feels sufficiently annoyed by a dissenting voice, they have them arrested and prosecuted without due process.
This person changed the rules of the game to stay in power longer.
For this person’s friends: the goods. For this person’s critics: the law.
Many dissidents have fled the country. Others are languishing in prison. Some resist from within, fully aware they could be next.
More than 400 people have died in custody. The authorities will turn a blind eye.

El Salvador is living under a dictatorship, even if you do not want to see it.

Next time you go to that new gastropub, the one with fairy lights and sterile decor serving the latest trend in brunch, matcha tea, ramen, cold brew, or hung steak, remember that this appearance of modernity has been built just a few meters from where hundreds of people are demanding a dignified life, free from eviction threats, with basic public services, and without the fear of losing everything to the same sinkhole that has been there for years.

Remember, as you savor the hops in your New England IPA, quite far from New England, that some of those people never made it home because they were arrested as they protested and demanded the bare minimum for a decent life. So were the lawyers who defended them, and those who documented, exposed, or explained the abuses of power.

More:
https://beta.elfaro.net/en/opinion-en/of-dictatorships-and-decent-citizens-wir-haben-es-nicht-gewusst