El Salvador Offers To Swap Venezuelans Deported From US For Political Prisoners Held By Venezuela

El Salvaror’s President Nayib Bukele has offered to swap 252 Venezuelans deported to his country for “political prisoners” held by Venezuela.

Bukele has agreed to hold deportees from the US in a maximum-security prison known as CECOT in exchange for payment – currently reported at around $6 million and growing. The Trump administration on March 15 sent 261 suspected illegal alien gang members to CECOT under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, and has sent roughly 30 more since then, according to Secretary of State Marco Rubio.

The Trump administration alleges that the deported Venezuelan illegals belong to criminal gangs, including Tren de Aragua, which he deemed a terrorist organization earlier this year.

On Sunday, Bukele wrote on X that the 252 Venezuelans could be sent to Venezuela in exchange for the same number of “political prisoners” held by the Maduro government under a “humanitarian agreement.”

“Your political prisoners haven’t committed any crime,” he wrote.

“Mr. Nicolas Maduro, you have said on numerous occasions that you want the Venezuelans back and free,” reads the post. “Unlike you, who have political prisoners, we don’t have political prisoners. All the Venezuelans we have in custody were detained as part of an operation against gangs like the Tren de Aragua in the United States.

“Unlike our detainees, many of whom have committed murder, others have committed rape, and some have even been arrested multiple times before being deported, your political prisoners have committed no crime. The only reason they are imprisoned is because they opposed you and your electoral fraud.

“I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and delivery of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners that you hold,” Bukele continued (translated).

If Maduro accepts the deal, it could ease political pressure on the Trump administration, which has been accused of denying due process to illegals and was temporarily blocked by the Supreme Court on Saturday from further deportations under the 18th century law.

The proposal comes after US Democrats dropped everything to demand the return of a ‘wrongly deported’ El Salvadoran national living in the US illegally, Kilmar Abrego Garcia. 

Garcia, whose wife issued a restraining order for domestic violence, was issued a deportation order and was later given a “withholding of removal” status due to danger he faced from a ‘rival gang’ if he returned to El Salvador.

Last week, Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador after Bukele refused to cooperate with an order by the US Supreme Court instructing the Trump administration to “facilitate” the return of Abrego Garcia.

According to Venezuelan rights group Foro Penal, there are 903 political prisoners being held by Maduro, including protesters and opposition leaders. Among the political prisoners Bukele mentioned is the son-in-law of former diplomat Edmundo González, who ran against Maduro and is considered by some allies of Washington to have won the election. Also being held by Maduro are journalist Roland Carreño, and the mother of opposition leader María Corina Machado.