San Salvador: El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has proposed a controversial exchange deal with Venezuela, offering to send 252 Venezuelans deported from the United States and currently imprisoned in El Salvador back to Caracas—on the condition that Venezuela releases an equal number of what he termed “political prisoners”.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Bukele directly appealed to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: “Hand over 252 of the political prisoners you are holding,” he wrote, outlining his proposal for a one-to-one exchange.
Venezuela’s Ministry of Communication has not issued any response to Bukele’s proposal.
Among the individuals Bukele called for in the proposed exchange were several prominent detainees, including journalist Roland Carreño, human rights advocate Rocío San Miguel, and Corina Parisca de Machado—the mother of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado—who Bukele stated is “subjected to daily threats at her home.”
Bukele also highlighted that his list includes nearly 50 foreign nationals held in Venezuela, including American, German, and French citizens. U.S. Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler welcomed the initiative in a post on X, confirming that 10 U.S. citizens are among the detainees proposed for release.
The Salvadoran president noted that his government would formally deliver the proposal to Venezuela via diplomatic channels.
This proposed deal comes amid a growing controversy surrounding a U.S.-led deportation effort. Last month, the Trump administration deported over 200 Venezuelan nationals to El Salvador, alleging they were members of the notorious Tren de Aragua gang. The United States is reportedly paying El Salvador $6 million to hold the detainees at the country’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center.
However, the Venezuelan government has denied the existence of political prisoners and insists that those detained have been convicted of criminal activity. Contrarily, numerous human rights organizations assert that more than 800 individuals are currently detained in Venezuela for political reasons.
Furthermore, Caracas has rejected claims that the deported Venezuelans have any ties to gang activity, with legal representatives and family members of the migrants also denying such affiliations.
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In a separate legal development, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary block on Saturday, halting the Trump administration’s deportation of another group of Venezuelan migrants under a seldom-used wartime statute. The ruling came in response to an emergency request filed by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).
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While the Trump administration urged the Court to dismiss the request, White House officials reiterated the president’s commitment to his broader immigration crackdown, though they provided no indication that the ruling would be challenged at this stage.
