The Donald Trump administration has dropped criticism of El Salvador, Israel, and Russia from its annual human rights report, published Tuesday for 2024 and released months late, while ramping up criticism of Brazil and South Africa, countries considered rivals of the new U.S. administration.

The report also omits sections that are common in previous years, such as those on corruption, diversity policies, abortion, and LGBTI rights. This exhaustive human rights report, prepared by the State Department since 1977, is usually published in the spring and serves as a guide for Congress to determine the foreign aid it grants to each country.

Regarding El Salvador, the State Department states that "there were no credible reports of significant human rights violations," unlike the 2023 report under Joe Biden, which did report cases of torture and poor prison conditions. The new document also notes that gang violence remained "at a historic low," attributing this to the state of emergency decreed by President Nayib Bukele, considered one of Trump's closest allies.

Criticism of Brazil, Venezuela, and Cuba

Regarding Israel, although the report mentions executions extrajudicial killings of Palestinians, also highlights that the Israeli government took steps to identify officials responsible for abuses during the Gaza offensive. It also removes criticism from previous years of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reform, which was then considered an attack on the separation of powers, as well as references to his corruption case.

Although the document reiterates the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity by Russian forces in Ukraine, it omits previous criticism of abuses against the LGBTI community in Russia. However, the report warns that "the human rights situation has declined during the year in Brazil," just as Washington clashes with Brasilia over the trial of former President Jair Bolsonaro.

As for to South Africa, A "significant deterioration" in human rights is reported due to the expropriation of land from the white Afrikaner minority. The document also emphasizes that the human rights situation in Venezuela "worsened significantly," especially after a presidential election marred by allegations of electoral fraud in favor of Nicolas Maduro. Washington also includes Nicaragua on its list of Latin American underachievers, saying the human rights situation "worsened" last year. It sees no "significant changes" in Cuba, another Latin American country heavily criticized by Foreign Minister Marco Rubio.