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Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro, who has frequently refused to take back Venezuelan citizens deported from the United States, now suddenly claims he wants them, after the U.S. deported over 250 illegal aliens who are alleged gang members and sent them to the CECOT prison in El Salvador last month.
The majority are alleged to members of the violent Tren de Aragua Venezuelan gang. Maduro claims they’re innocent little angels.
CNN reported on Sunday: Venezuela’s leader has described the deportation of more than 200 mostly Venezuelan migrants sent by the United States to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador as a “kidnapping,” and denied they are criminals while backing calls for their return.
“Nayib Bukele should not be an accomplice to this kidnapping, because our boys did not commit any crime in the United States, none,” Nicolas Maduro told supporters Wednesday, referencing El Salvador’s leader, who has struck a deal with US President Donald Trump.
“They were not brought to trial, they were not given the right to a defense, the right to due process, they were deceived, handcuffed, put on a plane, kidnapped, and sent to a concentration camp in El Salvador,” Maduro added.
The Venezuelan leader, who has ruled with an iron fist since 2013, said his government will deliver El Salvador an “official document” to request the return of the Venezuelan deportees, which will have the support of “millions” of signatures of Venezuelan citizens.
EL SALVADOR RESPONDS
About four hours later, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele delivered a strongly-worded response in a social media post, and told Maduro if he wants his citizens back, he better be prepared to release an equal number of innocent people he has imprisoned.
Bukele wrote:
Mr. @NicolasMaduro, you have said on numerous occasions that you want the Venezuelans back and free.
Unlike you, who have political prisoners, we don’t have political prisoners. All the Venezuelans we have in custody were detained as part of an operation against gangs like the Tren de Aragua in the United States.
Unlike our detainees, many of whom have committed murder, others have committed rape, and some have even been arrested multiple times before being deported, your political prisoners have committed no crime. The only reason they are imprisoned is because they opposed you and your electoral fraud.
However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and delivery of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners that you hold.
Among them are Rafael Tudares, Edmundo González’s son-in-law; journalist Roland Carreño; lawyer and activist Rocío San Miguel; Mrs. Corina Parisca de Machado, mother of María Corina Machado, who is subjected to daily intimidation and has her access to basic services such as electricity and water sabotaged; as well as the four political leaders seeking asylum in the Argentine embassy and other Venezuelan political prisoners. Also included are the nearly 50 detained citizens of other nationalities: American, German, Dominican, Argentine, Bolivian, Israeli, Chilean, Colombian, Ecuadorian, Spanish, French, Guyanese, Dutch, Iranian, Italian, Lebanese, Mexican, Peruvian, Puerto Rican, Ukrainian, Uruguayan, Portuguese, and Czech.
Our Foreign Ministry will send formal correspondence.
God bless the people of Venezuela.
Señor @NicolasMaduro, usted ha dicho en numerosas ocasiones que quiere a los venezolanos de regreso y en libertad.
A diferencia de usted, que tiene presos políticos, nosotros no tenemos presos políticos. Todos los venezolanos que tenemos bajo custodia fueron detenidos en el…
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) April 20, 2025
Bukele had posted a video on social media last month, when the Trump administration sent multiple deportation flights to El Salvador in the middle of the night.
Today, the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (renewable).
The United States will pay a very low fee for them,… pic.twitter.com/tfsi8cgpD6
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 16, 2025
🇸🇻🇻🇪 BUKELE CALLS MADURO’S BLUFF
El Salvador just flipped the script on Venezuela—offering to swap U.S.-deported migrants for jailed dissidents.
Bukele named names: journalists, lawyers, even the mother of a top opposition leader.
He also threw in 50 foreign nationals,… https://t.co/hx5eIEk6T9 pic.twitter.com/hg0VEP6tPz
— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) April 21, 2025
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