Overview
- Lawmakers passed the amendment 59–1, with Bukele’s New Ideas party and allies in favor and only opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz voting against.
- The reform modifies Article 27 to remove the ban on life terms and specifies that life imprisonment applies to murderers, rapists, and terrorists.
- Congressional leaders said the measure now goes to the Legislative Assembly’s Political Commission for ratification on Wednesday.
- Security Minister Gustavo Villatoro presented the plan along with bills to align the Penal Code and other laws and to set mechanisms for reviewing life sentences.
- The move follows a nearly four-year state of emergency that suspended key rights and led to about 91,300 detentions, drawing human-rights complaints to the IACHR as Bukele defends the crackdown and notes 8,000 releases.