El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has made a bold offer to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: repatriate 252 Venezuelans deported to El Salvador in exchange for the release of the same number of political prisoners. Bukele highlighted that many of these deportees are accused of serious crimes, such as murder and rape, while emphasizing that political prisoners in Venezuela are detained solely for opposing Maduro's regime, which many claim was controversially re-elected.
In his social media outreach, he 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." Bukele also noted nearly 50 prisoners of other nationalities, including U.S. citizens, could be part of this potential swap, although the Venezuelan government has yet to comment on the proposal.
Recently, over 200 Venezuelans were deported from the U.S. to El Salvador, many accused of ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. The U.S. government has been funding the detention of these deportees in El Salvador's notorious high-security prison system, known for its harsh conditions. In the backdrop, the U.S. Supreme Court recently paused the deportation of another group of alleged Venezuelan gang members, amidst ongoing legal battles regarding Trump's aggressive immigration policies.
