El Salvador President Naive Buquere proposed sending 252 Venezuelans deported from the United States and imprisoned in Venezuela in his country in exchange for “political prisoners” held by Venezuela.
On Sunday, Buquel asked Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro to “please exceed 252 of the political prisoners you have under his proposed deal.
Salvador’s leader did not say whether the prisoners would be again imprisoned at the time of exchange.
Venezuelan prosecutor Tarek William Saab said Buquere’s proposal was ironic and accused El Salvador of illegally detaining 252 Venezuelans. Saab requested that detainees learn about the crimes they were accused of. He was allowed to show up before the judge, to have access to an attorney, or to contact his family. In a statement, Saab’s office called Bukele a “neo-fascist” and said, “The treatment received by Venezuelans in the United States and El Salvador constitutes a serious violation of international human rights law and a crime against humanity.”
Among the Buquels who proposed release from Venezuela were journalist Roland Carreno, human rights lawyer Rocio San Miguel and Corina Parisca de Machado, mother of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
He also mentioned nearly 50 detainees of other nationalities, including citizens of the US, German and French, as part of the proposed exchange.
Adam Berler, a special envoy for US hostage response, posted online in praise of the move, saying that 10 Americans are among the proposed Americans for exchange.
Bukere said his Foreign Ministry would formally present the proposal to the Venezuelan government through diplomatic channels.
In March, the Trump administration deported at least 200 Venezuelans from the United States to El Salvador, accusing them of being members of Tren de Lagua’s crimes. The United States is paying $6 million to El Salvador to detain them at a security terrorist confinement center known as Secott.
The Venezuelan government says it has no political prisoners and that those who were incarcerated have been convicted of crimes. However, non-governmental organizations claim that over 800 people are in detention for political reasons.
The Venezuelan government has denied that Venezuelans deported by the US have gang affiliations. Detainees’ lawyers and their families also argue that immigrants have no connection to criminal groups.
On Saturday, the U.S. Supreme Court temporarily blocked the Trump administration from deporting another group of Venezuelan immigrants accused of gang ties under rarely used wartime laws. The court issued a stay after the American Civil Liberties Union asked to intervene in an emergency.
The Trump administration has urged the Supreme Court to reject the ACLU’s request. White House officials said the president continued to commit to cracking down on his immigration, but did not show that the administration would ignore the court’s decision.
