El Salvador Proposes Swapping Venezuelan Deportees From US for Maduro’s Political Prisoners

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed an agreement that would swap gang members deported by the United States with opponents of the Venezuelan regime.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele gives a thumbs up as he departs the White House following his meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump in Washington on April 14, 2025. Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed on April 20 that El Salvador would be open to exchanging prisoners with Venezuela’s socialist regime.

Specifically, Bukele proposed an agreement that would see prisoners who opposed Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s heavily-contested reelection in 2024, swapped with the deported Venezuelan nationals sent to El Salvador from the United States.