PoliticsEl Salvador takes in criminals from the USA in mega-prison
SDA
4.2.2025 - 11:13
ARCHIVE - The new mega prison in El Salvador (archive photo). Photo: Camilo Freedman/dpa
Keystone
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele has declared his willingness to accept US deportees of all nationalities and violent American criminals in a mega-prison. Bukele has promised to accept and detain criminal illegal immigrants from all countries, US State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said after a meeting between Minister Marco Rubio and the president. "And in an extraordinary gesture never before granted by any country, President Bukele offered to house dangerous American criminals in his prisons, including U.S. citizens and legal residents."
Keystone-SDA
04.02.2025, 11:13
SDA
"We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system," Bukele announced via the X platform. El Salvador is prepared to only accept convicted criminals - including convicted US citizens - into its mega-prison "Cecot" (Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo) for a fee. "The fee would be relatively small for the USA, but significant for us, so that our entire prison system would be sustainable," says Bukele.
In El Salvador, a new large prison complex was opened two years ago in the fight against violent gangs. Up to 40,000 prisoners were to be locked up there. Pictures of shackled prisoners in white shorts running barefoot and with tattooed torsos into the prison went around the world at the time. As a result, the murder rate in the Central American country fell significantly. However, human rights activists also speak of arbitrary arrests.
The topic of migration plays a central role in Rubio's trip to Central America. He already visited Panama at the weekend. After his visit to El Salvador, he will continue on to Costa Rica, Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. In view of the mass deportations announced by US President Donald Trump, the topic of migration will also play a central role there.