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The proposal triggered an angry response from Venezuela’s Government, which demanded Mr. Bukele’s Government provide a list of all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador, along with details about their health. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters
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The Salvadoran president on Tuesday (April 22, 2025) criticised Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s rejection of a swap that would see Venezuelan deportees from the United States detained in El Salvador exchanged for what he said were “political prisoners” in Venezuela.
Mr. Maduro has demanded the immediate release of 250 Venezuelans held in an El Salvador mega-prison built by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to house gang members. Mr. Maduro claimed in his weekly televised address on Monday (April 21, 2025) that “Bukele is a serial violator of the right to freedom, fair treatment, and human dignity.”
He urged that Mr. Bukele, instead of an exchange, sign “a decree granting unconditional freedom” to the deportees.
For his part, Mr. Bukele in a post on X on Tuesday (April 22, 2025) goaded Mr. Maduro, asking wasn’t the Venezuelan leader the one who said he’d do “whatever it takes” to secure the release of the Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.
Mr. Bukele and Mr. Maduro’s comments underscore the two leaders’ longstanding animosity, rooted in diametrically opposed political visions.
While both Governments have faced fierce democratic and human rights criticisms in recent years, Mr. Bukele has increasingly cosied up to US President Donald Trump while right-wing figures have long held up Mr. Maduro as an example of democratic decay.
Among those Mr. Bukele wants to set free by Mr. Maduro are the son-in-law of former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, several political leaders seeking asylum in the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela, and what he said were 50 detained citizens from a number of different countries across the world.
In his initial proposal on Sunday (April 20, 2025), Mr. Bukele also listed the mother of Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose house remains allegedly surrounded by Venezuelan police since January.
The proposal triggered an angry response from Venezuela’s Government, which demanded Mr. Bukele’s Government provide a list of all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador, along with details about their health.
Mr. Bukele reiterated his proposal in the social media post on Tuesday (April 22, 2025), citing Venezuela’s 2023 prisoner swap with the Biden administration for a Mr. Maduro ally.
“Weren’t you the one who said you would do “whatever it takes” to secure the release of the Venezuelans detained in El Salvador?” Mr. Bukele wrote on X, addressing Mr. Maduro.
Published – April 23, 2025 08:30 am IST
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El Salvador’s president slams Venezuela’s Maduro for rejecting prisoner swap proposal
