Politics Prisoner deal between Venezuela, USA and El Salvador
Venezuela, El Salvador and the USA have concluded a large-scale prisoner exchange.
19.07.2025, 01:54
SDA
"Today we released all Venezuelan citizens who were detained in our country, accused of belonging to the criminal organization Tren de Aragua," announced El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele on the X platform. In return, a "considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners" and ten US-Americans were released. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X that they were "on their way to freedom".
The 252 Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador had been deported by the USA in March as suspected members of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua to the notorious maximum security prison Cecot. According to Bukele, many of them have been charged with murder, robbery, rape and other serious crimes.
In April, Bukele offered Venezuela's authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro a prisoner swap. Venezuela had paid a high price for the freedom of these compatriots, the Venezuelan government announced and confirmed the completed exchange.
Controversy over US deportation practice
The US government is paying El Salvador a sum in the millions to take in deported migrants it classifies as serious criminals. However, the legality of the transfers is highly controversial. Research by several US media outlets has cast considerable doubt on the alleged criminal past of numerous deportees.
One prominent individual case concerns Kilmar Abrego Garcia: the man was brought from the USA to El Salvador in March despite being protected against deportation. After a long legal tug-of-war, he was returned to the USA in June, where criminal proceedings were initiated against him for human smuggling, among other things.
