Carlos BUCIO BORJA

The poet Carlos Bucio Borja was arrested for reading aloud articles of the Salvadoran Constitution on 4 February 2024, the day of the presidential elections in El Salvador, in protest at the candidacy for re-election of Nayib Bukele.

During his peaceful protest, the writer also made reference to other texts and to Monsignor Óscar Arnulfo Romero, a figure famous for his defence of human rights in El Salvador. Borja was detained by six members of the National Civil Police in an educational complex that was serving as a polling station and was transferred to the detention centre known as ‘El Penalito’. According to public information, the poet was arrested on charges of ‘public disorder’.

The poet was released without charge 72 hours later, on 7 February 2024. PEN International called for his release. Carlos Bucio Borja, born in La Unión in 1967, is a dual national Canadian-Salvadoran writer who lives in Canada. He graduated from economics and sociology at the José Simeón Cañas Central American University and in social anthropology from York University in Toronto. He has published short stories, poems and articles in various magazines and newspapers in El Salvador and Canada.