Bukele proposes prisoner swap with Venezuela for US deportees
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SUMMARY
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele proposed a prisoner exchange with Venezuela’s Nicolás Maduro, offering to release 252 Venezuelans deported from the U.S. to El Salvador’s CECOT prison in March for 252 Venezuelan political prisoners. Bukele, via X, named detainees like Rafael Tudares, son-in-law of 2024 election winner Edmundo González, and Corina Parisca de Machado, mother of opposition leader María Corina Machado, stating, “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud.” He also listed journalist Roland Carreño, activist Rocío San Miguel, and 50 foreigners, including Americans. Venezuela’s prosecutor Tarek William Saab, on April 20, called Bukele’s offer “cynical,” demanding detainee lists and medical reports, per the Associated Press. The U.S. paid $6 million for 238 deportations, alleging gang ties. Bukele’s foreign ministry is engaging Caracas, despite no ties since 2019.
