Salvadoran President Bukele proposes prisoner swap with Maduro

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has put forward a proposal for a prisoner exchange with Venezuela, suggesting the exchange of Venezuelan deportees from the United States for what he refers to as “political prisoners” in Venezuela.

In a message directed at President Nicolás Maduro on the social media platform X, Bukele listed family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists, and activists who were detained during the government’s crackdown last year.

Bukele proposed a humanitarian agreement that would involve the repatriation of 252 deported Venezuelans in exchange for the release of an equal number of political prisoners held in Venezuela.

Among those mentioned were the son-in-law of former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González, political leaders seeking asylum, and detained citizens from various countries. Bukele also highlighted the situation of opposition leader María Corina Machado’s mother.

Bukele expressed his intention to involve El Salvador’s foreign ministry in discussions with the Maduro government regarding the proposal.

The proposal comes amidst international scrutiny on El Salvador for receiving deported individuals accused of gang affiliation by the Trump administration. Deportees are held in a facility known as the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).

Amidst controversy surrounding the deportation of individuals like Kilmar Abrego Garcia, El Salvador’s Archbishop urged Bukele not to turn the country into an international prison.

Bukele defended the imprisonment of individuals in the context of an operation against gangs.