Nayib Bukele is devolving from tech-savvy reformer to autocrat

THE KNOCK on the door came at 11pm on a Sunday evening, as Ruth López, a lawyer and anti-corruption investigator at Cristosal, an NGO, was getting ready for bed. Police claimed her car had been involved in an accident, but when she stepped outside they arrested her on suspicion of embezzling government funds in a job she left over a decade ago. In a recording Ms López is heard saying, “The only reason I am being detained is that I am a defender of human rights and I work for an NGO that makes the government uncomfortable.” Most observers agree. That makes her the first high-profile political prisoner incarcerated by Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president.