Bukele proposes prisoner exchange with Venezuela over US deportees

Monday 21 April 2025 - 16:05

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has suggested a humanitarian prisoner exchange with Venezuela, offering to return 252 Venezuelan nationals detained in his country in exchange for an equal number of political prisoners held by the Venezuelan government.

Addressing Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, Bukele said on Sunday that while the Salvadoran detainees include individuals convicted of serious crimes such as murder and sexual assault, the Venezuelan political prisoners have committed no offense other than opposing the regime and its alleged electoral fraud.

Among the political detainees mentioned by Bukele are Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of exiled presidential candidate Edmundo González, and Corina Parisca, the mother of opposition figure María Corina Machado.

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab dismissed the proposal as cynical and demanded a full list of the detained individuals, along with proof of life and medical evaluations.

Bukele’s proposal follows deportations from the US under the Trump administration, which paid about $6 million to El Salvador to house Venezuelan nationals accused of gang affiliations, including alleged members of Tren de Aragua. These deportations were carried out under the Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used 18th-century law.

Critics, including media outlets and legal experts, have questioned the validity of these deportations, noting that most of the deported individuals lack criminal records.

Meanwhile, the US Supreme Court recently issued a temporary halt to further deportations from Texas, following an emergency petition by the American Civil Liberties Union. The court previously ruled that the administration cannot carry out removals without allowing migrants to challenge them in court.