El Salvador Proposes Prisoner Swap with Venezuela for US Deportees

In a bold move, El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has suggested a prisoner swap with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, aiming to exchange 252 Venezuelans deported by the US, currently imprisoned in El Salvador, for a similar number of Venezuelan political prisoners. Bukele made his proposal through social media, highlighting the disparity between the serious crimes attributed to the deportees and the political motivations behind the imprisonment of opposition figures in Venezuela. The Venezuelan government, however, denies the existence of political prisoners, a viewpoint contradicted by multiple human rights organizations.

In his post, Bukele stated, “I want to propose you [Maduro] a humanitarian agreement calling for the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release... of the identical number from among the thousands of political prisoners that you hold.” This proposal also includes nearly 50 individuals of other nationalities, including Americans.

Recently, over 200 Venezuelans were deported from the US to El Salvador, many of whom are accused of ties to criminal organizations like the Tren de Aragua gang. The US government has been financially supporting the detention of these deportees in El Salvador's infamous high-security Terrorism Confinement Center. The current political landscape in the US complicates deportation matters, with the Supreme Court having paused another wave of deportations involving alleged gang members. Bukele's offer remains unaddressed by the Maduro administration so far.