Salvadoran President Bukele proposes prisoner swap with Maduro for Venezuelan deportees

npr.orgPublished: 4/21/2025

Summary

El Salvador's president offers a bold prisoner swap with Venezuela, proposing to exchange 252 Venezuelan deportees for political prisoners detained by Maduro. The move has drawn sharp criticism from Caracas, which accused Bukele of "neofascism," while El Salvador's archbishop condemned the country becoming an "international prison." Amid controversy over questionable deportations and overcrowded detention conditions, Bukele maintains his stance against gang-related crimes.

Additional Summaries

In a high-stakes political move, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has proposed swapping 252 Venezuelan prisoners held in El Salvador for 252 of his own perceived "political prisoners," sparking outrage from Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro. Maduro dismissed the offer as cynical and demanded detailed information on the detained individuals' legal statuses before considering it. The controversy intensifies amid scrutiny over El Salvador's treatment of Venezuelans deported by the U.S., including a notable case of a father-in-law mistakenly deported, with the Supreme Court yet to act on his return.