El Salvador Proposes Prisoner Swap with Venezuela for US-Deported Migrants

El Salvador's Prisoner Exchange Proposal

• 🇸🇻 El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele proposed an exchange with Venezuela: sending over 250 US-deported Venezuelans held in El Salvador back to Venezuela.
• 🤝 In return, Bukele requested Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro release 252 individuals described as 'political prisoners'.

Background and Context

• 🇺🇸 The Trump administration recently deported at least 200 Venezuelans from the US to El Salvador, alleging they were part of the criminal gang 'Trande Aragona'.
• 💰 The US is paying El Salvador $6 million to detain these migrants in a high-security center.
• ⚖️ The US Supreme Court has temporarily halted deportations of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang ties, following a request from the ACLU.

Venezuelan Response and International Involvement

• 🚫 Venezuela denies holding political prisoners, stating those incarcerated have been convicted of crimes.
• 🗣️ Venezuela's chief prosecutor criticized Bukele's prisoner exchange plan.
• 🌍 Among the individuals proposed for release from Venezuela were journalists, human rights lawyers, and the mother of an opposition leader, with nearly 50 detainees being of other nationalities, including US, German, and French citizens.
• 🇺🇸 The US special envoy for hostage response noted that at least 10 Americans were proposed for exchange.