On March 27, El Salvador’s legislative assembly approved legislation allowing those under the age of 18 to serve life sentences for murder, rape and terrorism. 

The move came just weeks after the Nayib Bukele regime amended the constitution to permit life sentences for adults, part of its hallmark iron fist approach to crime. 

The extension of penalties marks a significant escalation in the severity of the country’s punitive policy, raising a number of ethical and legal concerns, according to rights groups.

The reform to the Juvenile Criminal Law provides for “the inapplicability of the special juvenile procedure” which formerly saw children and adolescents held in separate, secure centres designed to provide a more nurturing environment for younger inmates. 

With the support of the Salvadoran Institute for the Comprehensive Development of Children and Adolescents, child-friendly court-procedures and age-appropriate prisons which prioritized education, vocational training, psychological support and social reintegration were once foregrounded. 

But under the reformed law children and adolescents could now be condemned to a lifetime in prison.

Rights groups warn that the reform risks disproportionately targeting children and adolescents from lower socio-economic backgrounds, many of whom are already vulnerable to coercion and exploitation by organised crime.

The United Nations Children Fund (UNICEF) and the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) said in a joint statement that the reforms “constitute a contradiction of the standards enshrined in the Convention on the Rights of the Child.” These standards say that children in conflict with the law must be treated in a manner that “prioritizes their rehabilitation and reintegration, and that deprivation of liberty be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest, appropriate time.”

Since being elected as president in 2019, Bukele has been a divisive figure in El Salvador. In a bid to tackle gang violence, he introduced a state of emergency in March 2022, granting authorities broad-based authority to arrest and detain individuals suspected of gang affiliation without warrants.

The state of emergency, intended to last no longer than 30 days, has been extended more than 20 times as Bukele continues his crusade against criminal networks, groups, individuals and affiliates. 

As of March 2026, approximately 91,500 people have been arrested under the state of emergency, according to official government figures. 

While the policy has been credited with reducing homicide rates and improving public safety, its implementation has been deeply controversial. Reports suggest that many individuals, and even young people and adolescents, have been detained based on tenuous evidence, including their socio-economic status. 

This raises the alarming possibility that minors could face life imprisonment not on the basis of proven criminal activity, but on suspicion alone.

However, Bukele seems an unstoppable force, frequently polling above other Latin American leaders in popularity during his term.

Minors face arrests under repeated states of emergency

The precedents set by President Bukele’s mano duro policy are particularly concerning with the new reformed juvenile penal code on the horizon.

Salvadoran security forces have already detained more than 3,300 children, many of whom had no apparent connection to gangs’ criminal activities, according to this Human Rights Watch report.

The risk of condemning a young person to a lifetime in prison based on flawed evidence or coerced confessions is a significant concern for NGOs and analysts. 

“The legislative changes place children under the authority of El Salvador’s adult prison administration, which has been responsible for torture and other grave abuses,” noted Juanita Goebertus, Americas director at Human Rights Watch.

While the reform promises to hold “periodic reviews” for life sentences, it still raises questions about the availability of the alternative of rehabilitation programs within the prison system.

Previous amendments to the Criminal Code which determine that criminal courts will have “exclusive jurisdiction” to hear proceedings “against adults and minors” involved in crimes punishable by life sentences equally raises concern about the adequacy of legal representation for minors.

If the repercussions of the “Bukele Method” continue to be enacted so stringently, young people will likely continue to face undue arrest.

Minors transferred to adult prisons

Equally concerning are the precedents set by the “Bukele Method”, demonstrating a tendency that juvenile offenders may be absorbed into an already overburdened prison system. 

UNICEF and CRC have similarly argued that “detention is not only harmful to children, but also highly costly and ineffective in preventing crime”.

Juanita Goebertus explained that there is a risk of children experiencing mistreatment in adult prison systems and that “transferring children into detention facilities designed and operated for adults, even if they are placed in nominally separate areas, is a massive regression for children’s rights in El Salvador.”

Evidence demonstrates that young children and adolescents imprisoned for “collaborating” with organised crime groups or low-level crimes are more likely to reoffend or become more closely affiliated with criminal groups during their time in prison. 

While many Salvadorans credit Bukele’s hardline policies with delivering safer streets and a dramatic reduction in violence, international bodies such as UNICEF caution that security gains may prove fragile unless “the specialized nature of the juvenile justice system” and the rights of all children are fully upheld.

Failing to invest in rehabilitation, education and social reintegration risks entrenching the very cycles of crime these policies seek to eliminate. Prioritizing punitive measures over children’s rights may ultimately undermine both long-term public safety and the wellbeing of future generations.

Featured image description: (From left to right) Minister of Defense René Merino Monroy, General Director of Penal Centers Osiris Luna Meza, President Nayib Bukele, Minister of Public Works Romeo Herrera, and Director of the National Civil Police Mauricio Arriaza Chicas touring the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in January 2023.

Featured image credit: President’s Office of El Salvador.

The post Rights groups decry El Salvador’s new juvenile penal code appeared first on Latin America Reports.

As Venezuela moves closer to approving a mining law that would open up rare earths and other minerals to foreign investment, the country’s rich deposits could be placed at the center of a struggle for profit between the U.S., China and Colombian, Venezuelan and Brazilian armed groups operating in the country. 

Since taking office last year, Donald Trump’s administration has blown up dozens of alleged drug boats in the Pacific and Caribbean, launched military operations inside Ecuador against drug traffickers, provided intelligence to Mexico’s military to take out the leader of the Jalisco New Generation Cartel, and captured President Nicolás Maduro, accusing him of heading the Cartel de los Soles. 

Analysts say that Venezuela’s mining outposts — many of which are controlled by armed groups including Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN), dissidents of the now-demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Brazil’s Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC), as well as Venezuelan criminal groups — could be the next area in Latin America where Trump sets his sights. 

Bram Ebus, a consultant for the International Crisis Group and the co-founder of Amazon Underworld, told Latin America Reports that “a scenario is emerging in which further military action, whether by the Colombian army with U.S. military support or through direct special forces involvement, could target armed groups like the National Liberation Army (ELN) under a counternarcotics narrative, while pursuing the parallel objective of securing influence over resource-rich areas”.

For over a decade, groups like the ELN have been expanding their presence in Venezuela’s Amazon rainforest region and exhorting local miners who are exploiting everything from gold, cassiterite (tin), wolframite (tungsten), and coltan (niobium and tantalum) ores and more. 

Amid the growing demand for critical minerals in our current geopolitical landscape, Ebus pointed out that the U.S. could be gunning for Venezuela’s critical mineral resources.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum met with interim-President Delcy Rodriguez in Caracas to discuss rare earth minerals, bringing with him “over two dozen American companies with us today, some of the biggest, strongest, best mining and minerals companies in the world”.

The proposed mining law would give the U.S. greater access to critical minerals.

Ebus said that “one possibility is that U.S. corporations get involved in mining, but since Washington wants to secure access to the supply chain, it is also possible that U.S. refiners get privileged access to minerals sourced by public companies.”

Chinese presence in the region: Not on Trump’s watch?

As soon as Secretary Burgum landed back in the U.S., the administration authorized transactions with Venezuelan state-owned gold mining company Minerven, El Pais reported. The license also restricted access for companies doing business with U.S. rivals Iran, Russia and China. 

Though it’s difficult to assess the full Chinese buyer presence in the region, Ebus said that “we know that Chinese citizens have been entering Venezuela via Puerto Carreño, on the Colombian side of the border, and that mines report Chinese buyers on-site”. 

He also noted that “taking into account historical China-Venezuela migration patterns, we consider some may hold Venezuelan citizenship. Shipping data also shows direct shipments from both Colombia and Venezuela to Chinese companies.”

As Trump moves to edge out China from the Western Hemisphere via his “Donroe Doctrine”, Ebus said it’s likely the U.S. will “directly clash with the interest of China” and that, in the Amazon region, “there is a concrete risk of direct or indirect U.S. military involvement, or sanctions, to secure access to rare earths”. 

Unmapped resources in a lawless region signals competition and violence 

What’s more, Ebus explained, this competition for rare earths could spill over outside of Venezuela to neighboring countries with deposits. 

“This is a dynamic that extends beyond Venezuela to, for example, include Ecuador and Brazil”, where uncharted deposits of critical and transition minerals are located at the tri-border. 

He suggested that U.S. activity will face challenges given the level of authority the criminal groups have in the Amazon. 

Historically, the ELN has used Venezuela as a safe haven from Colombia’s army, and as Maduro’s government faced economic pressures, their illicit mining activity was “tacitly approved by Caracas”, said Ebus.  

This form of “criminal governance” has allowed the group to maintain its presence.

“Critical mineral mines now fall under its control [the ELN], with operations run under extreme violence, including summary executions and strict social control over local populations”, Ebus added. 

Venezuelan military forces, other Colombian armed groups including FARC dissidents, and Brazil organized crime groups Comando Vermelho (CV) and Primeiro Comando da Capital (PCC) are also present, meaning “increased competition over mineral-rich territories is a distinct and growing prospect”.

This will further complicate matters for the U.S.

Featured image: A fragment of mine soil rich in critical minerals.

Image credit: Bram Ebus, co-director, Amazon Underworld

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