In 2022, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and its legislative assembly passed a law declaring a “state of emergency” that limited the rights of El Salvadorans to freedom of assembly, privacy of communication, and due process under the law. This temporary measure, designed to curb gang violence responsible for El Savador’s high murder rate, has been renewed 35 times as of March 2025, turning El Salvador into a nation where mass incarceration is the norm. Prisons in El Salvador have become severely overcrowded and reports of inhumane treatment, poor medical care, violence, and murder are common. This project focuses on the stories of individuals and affected families to show the private struggles behind public policy.
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2025 Photo Contest - North and Central America - Long-Term Projects
Life and Death in a Country Without Constitutional Rights
Photographer
Carlos Barrera
El Faro, NPR
Jury comment
The jury felt that this project powerfully captures the personal toll of state violence, offering an intimate view into the lives of individuals who have been unfairly arrested and brutalized. The photographer’s creative approach to protecting identities while maintaining visual impact heightens the sense of descending darkness and terror. The story resonates beyond its borders, reflecting the global implications of migration politics as many Salvadorians face the prospect of being deported back to the violence they once fled. The photographer’s work, undertaken at enormous personal risk, brings viewers closer to the human cost of authoritarianism.