"The U.S. government is shielding the Bukele regime with its silence," said Gina Romero, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and of Association. "Bukele has complete control of the courts, the congress, the media and the narrative. If that's not autocracy I don't know what is."

President Nayib Bukele has cracked down on gangs and civil rights, jailing tens of thousands of people. The National Assembly also extended the presidential term to six years.

His supermajority in the legislative assembly has removed the constitutional barriers to unlimited re-election