Salvadoran president Bukele suggests a prisoner swap to release imprisoned deportees

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has suggested a prisoner swap with Venezuela, which would allow him to release political prisoners currently being held in the country.

Around 238 Venezuelan deportees have been welcomed into El Salvador, after they were removed from the United States under suspicions of having ties to either Tren de Aragua or MS-13. According to The Hill, San Salvador has accepted “at least $6 million for imprisoning the deportees.”

Now, Bukele is expressing his willingness to use some of the imprisoned deportees as pawns in an exchange with Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. He has said that up to 252 of the Venezuelans currently being held could be turned over to their home country in a “humanitarian” effort, as long as Maduro will agree to release those who have “committed no crime” and are being held for standing up to “your electoral fraud.”

“Among the political prisoners Bukele called for releasing were Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of Edmundo González, the internationally-recognized victor of presidential elections held in July 2024. Bukele also called for the release of Corina Parisca de Machado, the mother of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado,” the outlet wrote.

The two countries have not engaged in diplomatic relations since 2019.

Venezuela responded to Bukele’s comments, referring to them as “cynical” and calling the Salvadoran president a “neofascist.”

Writer/Columnist

Sierra Marlee is a millennial whose hunger for the truth in a world of fake news has led her to BizPac Review.

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