About Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro
A life dedicated to justice
Ruth Eleonora López Alfaro was born on September 27, 1977, in San Salvador, when bullets still rang out in the streets and fear was part of the air breathed. She was just a child when her family had to go into exile. First Nicaragua, 11 years. Then Cuba, 16 more years. Almost three decades away from home.
But exile did not break her. It forged her. Those years taught her something she would carry engraved in her soul forever: no person should live in fear. No voice should be silenced for speaking the truth. And justice is not something one waits for—it is something one builds, with one's hands, with one's heart, with every decision made when no one is looking.
At 48, Ruth is a mother, wife, daughter, sister, friend. That person who truly listens to you. Who calls when she senses something is wrong. Who looks you in the eye when she speaks to you and who, when she promises something, keeps it.
But she is also something else. She is one of the most respected voices in the fight against corruption in Central America. One of those who do not stay silent even knowing that speaking has a price. One of those who see injustice and cannot look the other way.
Ruth does not defend human rights in the abstract. She defends them with names. With surnames. Case by case. Life by life.
Those who know her speak of her laughter—that which disarms you, which makes you feel that everything will be okay. They speak of her ability to find light even in the darkest days. And they speak of her unwavering certainty: justice is not a distant ideal. It is built every day. With every act of bravery.
Her family: the heart of everything
Ruth is, first and foremost, a family woman.
Her partner, Louis, was there the night of the arrest, when the police arrived with false excuses. He has been her tireless voice since she was silenced. Ruth has a daughter and a son who today live with a void no one can fill. Without being able to hug her. Without hearing her voice. Not knowing when they will be together again.
Every day she passes incommunicado is a birthday she does not celebrate with them. A conversation that never happens. A hug that stays floating in the air, waiting.
Her mother, Eleonora, has denounced, wept, and demanded justice time and time again with that strength only a mother has when a daughter is snatched from her.
"It is a crime what they are doing. A revenge."
Although her voice may break, her words are firm. Because mothers do not give up.
Her sister Claudia carries the weight of fighting for her sister from a distance, traversing that impossible pain, doing everything humanly possible and hoping this nightmare ends soon.
International Recognitions
Ruth's work has been recognized by prestigious international organizations, even while she remains imprisoned.
100 Inspiring Women
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Included in the annual list of the 100 most inspiring and influential women in the world.
International Human Rights Award
American Bar Association
For her exceptional achievements as a human rights defender. Ceremony in Toronto.
Award for the Right to Defend Rights
Embassy of France, OMCT, Acceso Foundation and more
For her work in accompanying, promoting, and defending human rights.
Magnitsky Human Rights Award
Global Magnitsky Justice Campaign / Hermitage Foundation
Recognition for those who combat corruption at personal risk. London.
Prisoner of Conscience — Amnesty International
Amnesty International declared Ruth a "prisoner of conscience": a person imprisoned solely for their beliefs, without having used or advocated violence.
This designation places her in the same historical category as Nelson Mandela, Aung San Suu Kyi, and other unjustly imprisoned human rights defenders.
Academic Background
Ruth's academic history is that of someone who turned exile into wings.
In 1999, she graduated with honors from the University of Havana in Cuba, where her family had found refuge. She didn't just complete her Law Degree. She did so becoming the best foreign student of her class and the best student of the entire Law Faculty.
For a young Salvadoran woman who had grown up far from her country, this achievement was more than a diploma. It was proof that exile could not steal her future.
Cuba
University of Havana
Law Degree
Best foreign student
Cuba and Spain
U. of Havana / U. of Barcelona
Master in Corporate Law
Double degree
Cuba
University of Havana
Specialization in Legal Advice
Spain
U. Castilla-La Mancha
Master in Electoral Law
Every degree was one more tool. Every specialization, a weapon against impunity.
Professional Career
Supreme Electoral Tribunal
Strengthening democracy from within
As legal advisor to magistrate Eugenio Chicas, Ruth worked to strengthen El Salvador's democratic processes and electoral transparency. Every reform she pushed was one more brick in building a more solid democracy.
Ruth understood something fundamental: a person's vote is worth the same if they trust their voice counts. And she worked to make it count.
Salvadoran Social Security Institute
Expanding protections to the forgotten
Led efforts to expand social security coverage to Salvadorans abroad. Developed programs for independent workers.
Thousands of Salvadorans living outside the country, who send remittances, who sustain the economy from a distance, today have access to social security thanks to Ruth's work.
She never forgot what it meant to be a migrant. To live far from home. To fight for a better future.
Competition Superintendence
Facing the powerful without blinking
As Director, Ruth was responsible for over $8 million in fines to companies for anti-competitive practices. She forced the sale of beer brands to prevent monopolies. She defended consumers when no one else did.
Ruth understood that when companies do what they want without accountability, the most vulnerable pay the price. Every fine she imposed was a message: in El Salvador there are laws. And those laws apply even to the most powerful.
Cristosal - Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit
The fight that made her a target
As Head of the Anti-Corruption and Justice Unit at Cristosal, Ruth led the most important investigations into corruption in the Nayib Bukele government.
The cases that made her an enemy of the State:
- •Exposed the use of Pegasus spyware against journalists and defenders
- •Documented corruption in COVID-19 contracts while thousands died
- •Investigated the exorbitant costs of the CECOT mega-prison
- •Gave a face to over 400 deaths in state custody
Every investigation she completed was an act of bravery. Every report she published, a denouncement the regime could not ignore. Every time Ruth spoke, the Bukele government trembled.
That is why they arrested her.
Her Own Words
Ruth was never afraid to speak the truth. Even when she knew that truth would have a price.
"The only reason for the detention here is that I am a human rights defender and work in an NGO uncomfortable to the government. That is the only problem. There is nothing to explain here: that about embezzlement, corruption, if I am the one investigating corruption here."
— During the arrest, May 18, 2025
Ruth knew exactly why she was being arrested. There was no confusion. The regime wanted her silenced.
"Have decency, this will end one day. You cannot lend yourselves to this."
— To the officers detaining her
Even handcuffed, Ruth thought of the agents taking her away. She reminded them of their humanity. She warned them they would one day have to account.
"You will not silence me! I demand a public trial! The people deserve to know. She who fears nothing, hides nothing."
— In judicial hearing, June 4, 2025
"I am a political prisoner, all imputations are for my legal activity, for my denouncement against government corruption."
— In judicial hearing, June 4, 2025
Ruth shouted these words in the courtroom. Not with fear, but with fury. With indignation. With the certainty of one who knows history will judge her with justice, even if present courts do not.
These are not the words of someone who gives up.
They are the words of someone who knows the truth always finds its way.
Even when they try to bury it.
Ruth is someone who decided that defending the truth was worth any price.
Demand justice. Take action.