El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has proposed a prisoner swap deal with Venezuela, offering to repatriate 252 Venezuelan nationals deported from the US and currently imprisoned in his country in exchange for the release of an equal number of political prisoners held by the Venezuelan government.
In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, Bukele made a direct appeal to Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro: “I want to propose you [Maduro] a humanitarian agreement calling for the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release… of the identical number from among the thousands of political prisoners that you hold.”
According to BBC, Bukele claimed the deported Venezuelans included individuals who had committed “rape and murder” while the Venezuelan political prisoners were detained for their opposition to Maduro’s leadership. Venezuela has consistently denied holding political prisoners, a stance disputed by international human rights groups who say over 800 people are imprisoned for political reasons.
Venezuelan prosecutor responds
Venezuela’s chief prosecutor Tarek William Saab dismissed the proposal, accusing El Salvador of unlawfully detaining the 252 Venezuelan nationals. In a statement cited by Reuters, Saab demanded transparency, asking what crimes the detainees are accused of, have they been presented before a judge, have access to legal defence, or been allowed to communicate with their families.
Saab described El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) — where the Venezuelans are held — as a “place of forced disappearance of innocent Venezuelan nationals”, and said he would formally request a list of the detainees, including their legal status and medical conditions.
Bukele’s proposal includes foreign nationals
Bukele’s proposal, according to Reuters, also included nearly 50 foreign detainees of other nationalities, such as US, German, and French citizens. Among the Venezuelan political prisoners he cited for potential release were journalist Roland Carreño, human rights lawyer Rocío San Miguel, and Corina Parisca de Machado, mother of opposition leader María Corina Machado.
US special envoy for hostage response Adam Boehler welcomed Bukele’s move, stating on X that 10 US citizens are among the foreign detainees included in the proposed exchange.
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Bukele confirmed that El Salvador’s foreign ministry would present the proposal formally through diplomatic channels.
US deportations under wartime law
The developments come amid renewed focus on the Trump administration’s immigration policies. In recent weeks, at least 200 Venezuelans were deported from the US to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, a rarely used wartime law that allows the president to detain and deport citizens of enemy nations without standard legal procedures.
According to BBC, Washington accuses the deported Venezuelans of being affiliated with the criminal gang Tren de Aragua, a claim that the Venezuelan government, families, and legal representatives of the detainees have denied. The US is reportedly paying El Salvador $6 million to detain the deportees in its CECOT facility.
On Saturday, the US Supreme Court temporarily blocked the deportation of another group of Venezuelan migrants accused of gang ties. The decision came after the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed an emergency petition. While the Trump administration opposed the intervention, it said it would comply with the court’s stay and review the matter further.
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The White House has called legal challenges to the deportations “meritless litigation” and said the president remains committed to his immigration crackdown.
(With inputs from BBC and Reuters)
