Elsa Sandoval García
Elsa Sandoval García is a woman human rights and children's rights defender in the department of Ahuachapán. She has worked in her local Community Development Association (ADESCO)and for the rights of low-income children in the Bajo Lempa area in the municipality of Usulután.
The human rights defender community is regularly subjected to campaigns of defamation - they are labeled as 'traitors of the nation', 'terrorists' and 'subversive'. This tactic employed by the authorities is designed to discredit and undermine the work of human rights defenders by isolating and marginalising them, making them a vulnerable target for abuse. Community leaders and environmental activists who are opposed to large-scale mining projects face death threats and violence.
