In addition, 80 “political prisoners” were released in Venezuela as part of the agreement, said El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele.
The government of US President Donald Trump deployed 252 Venezuelans to El Salvador in March, whom she accused of belonging to the criminal organization Tren de Aragua. The migrants were arrested in the Central American country in the notorious Cecot high -security prison.
In this controversial procedure without legal proceedings, Trump referred to a law from 1798 about “foreign enemies”. The Salvadorian human rights organization Cristosal assumes that only seven of the men had previously been convicted.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote in online service X, “ten Americans who were imprisoned in Venezuela are on their way to freedom”. He thanked Bukele for his support.
On their return trip from Venezuela to the USA, the ten released US citizens or people with a US residence were initially flown to El Salvador. In the capital, San Salvador, they were received at a ceremony in the Presidential Palace of Bukele and the US Geiselbeitigten Adam Boehler. Boehler described Bukele as the “incredible friend” of the United States.
According to the French government, one of the returnees is a 37-year-old who has both a French and a US pass. According to his family, the man has been held since January after he was arrested by Venezuelan border guards during a vacation in Colombia.
According to the Venezuelan non-governmental organization foro Penal, five of the released US citizens are, the other returnees originally come from Mexico, Bolivia and Uruguay. According to the Venezuelan government, there is also an oppositional ex-MP, according to the Venezuelan government.
In Venezuela, the left-wing authoritarian head of state Nicolás Maduro thanked US President Trump for his mediation in the exchange and the decision to reverse this completely illegal situation “. Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and other government employees went on board the two aircraft with the released prisoners after landing in Maquetía.
The Venezuelan government made no precise information on how many of the men previously locked up in El Salvador were on board the aircraft. However, Bukele said on X, “we handed over all Venezuelan citizens to be accused of being members of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua and who were detained in our country”. The prisoner exchange was preceded by months of negotiations with the “tyrannical regime” in Caracas, he continued.
For her part, the Venezuelan government said that it had paid a “high price” for the liberation of the Venezuelans imprisoned in El Salvador. Maduro explained that “terrorists” were exchanged for “innocent”.
On Friday morning, an aircraft with 244 Venezuelans in Maquetía had already landed directly from the USA. According to Interior Minister Cabello, seven Venezuelan children were also on board.
According to official information, more than 8,200 Venezuelans, including many children, have been deported back to their home country from the USA and Mexico since February. Trump drives a tough course against migrants living in the United States without residence papers, the frequent raids to arrest such people ensure violent controversy and angry protests.
Kü/Dja
