El Salvador Proposes Stunning Deal Involving U.S.-Deported Migrants
In a move that feels like something straight out of a political thriller, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is making headlines again—this time, with a jaw-dropping proposal: a prisoner exchange with Venezuela.
Bukele is offering to trade 252 Venezuelans locked up in his country’s infamous mega prison for 252 of what he calls “political prisoners” currently being held in Venezuela—including family members of opposition leaders, journalists, and asylum seekers.
And he didn’t hold back.
“Unlike our detainees, many of whom have committed murder or rape… your political prisoners have committed no crime,” Bukele said in a bold message to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on X. “The only reason they are imprisoned is because they opposed you and your electoral fraud.”
Whew.
Inside the Deal
But the deal is as messy as it is bold. The Venezuelans in El Salvador were deported from the U.S. under Trump-era policies and are now accused of being gang members—some allegedly tied to MS-13 and Venezuela’s brutal Tren de Aragua cartel. Still, neither the U.S. nor El Salvador have offered much evidence to support those claims.
Maduro, meanwhile, says the deportation of his citizens was nothing short of a “kidnapping.”
Bukele’s list of proposed trade-ins includes Rafael Tudares (son-in-law of exiled opposition leader Edmundo González), the mother of María Corina Machado, and even four political leaders who’ve been living under asylum in the Argentine Embassy for over a year.
Those four say they’re “under siege”—with checkpoints and armed guards outside the building, blocking visitors but not storming inside. It’s like a Cold War standoff in real time.
Also on the list? Journalist Roland Carreño, human rights lawyer Rocío San Miguel, and nearly 50 others from countries including the U.S.
Critics say this all comes as Bukele—who famously called himself “the world’s coolest dictator”—tightens his grip on power. Human rights groups are ringing the alarm over mass arrests and reported abuses. But his popularity at home? Sky-high. The 43-year-old leader was reelected in a landslide.
Now, the world watches: Will Maduro bite? Or is this just another power play on the world stage?