El Salvador President Proposes Deportees Exchange for Venezuela’s Political Prisoners
(MENAFN) El Salvador's president, Nayib Bukele, has proposed a deal to repatriate 252 Venezuelans deported by the U.S. and detained in his country, on the condition that Venezuela releases the same number of political prisoners.
Bukele made the offer directly to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro via a social media post. He emphasized that many of the deported Venezuelans had been involved in serious crimes such as "rape and murder," while those imprisoned in Venezuela were primarily detained for opposing Maduro, whose controversial re-election last year is widely disputed.
Venezuela’s top prosecutor, Tarek William Saab, swiftly condemned Bukele’s proposal, demanding details on the crimes the deportees were accused of and whether they had received a fair trial or legal representation.
The Venezuelan government denies the existence of political prisoners, although human rights organizations disagree with this claim.
In his post on X, 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."
Additionally, Bukele mentioned nearly 50 prisoners of other nationalities, including U.S. citizens, as part of the proposed exchange.
Over the past few weeks, more than 200 Venezuelans have been sent from the U.S. to El Salvador. The Trump administration accused many of them of ties to the Tren de Aragua gang. Washington funds El Salvador to house these deportees in the notorious high-security Terrorism Confinement Center.
Bukele, who refers to himself as "the world's coolest dictator," was re-elected last year, bolstered by widespread support for his aggressive anti-gang measures.
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