Venezuela to probe El Salvador’s Bukele for ‘torture’ of US deportees

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Deported migrants accidental they were beaten, sexually abused and fed rotten nutrient wrong a notorious El Salvador prison.

Published On 22 Jul 2025

Venezuela has launched an probe into the relation El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele and his elder officials played successful the alleged torture of 252 migrants who were detained successful the Central American state aft being deported from the United States.

Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab made the announcement successful Caracas connected Monday, arsenic helium presented photos and testimonies of immoderate of the men, who said they were beaten, sexually abused and fed rotten nutrient portion wrong a notorious El Salvador prison.

Others were denied aesculapian attraction oregon treated without anaesthesia, Saab said, urging the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the UN Human Rights Council to act.

The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the US successful March, aft US President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua pack without owed process.

The deportations drew fierce disapproval from quality rights groups and a ineligible conflict with the Trump administration. Family members and lawyers of galore of the men contradict they had pack ties.

Prisoner swap

The erstwhile detainees arrived adjacent Caracas connected Friday pursuing their merchandise successful El Salvador, successful speech for 10 US citizens and governmental prisoners held successful Venezuela.

Saab said the prosecutor’s bureau was interviewing the returned migrants. Some of the erstwhile detainees person since reunited with their families, but they person not yet returned to their ain homes.

Several had bruises connected their bodies, marks of being changeable with rubber bullets, and 1 had a divided lip.

Andry Hernandez Romero, a 32-year-old beautician among those sent to El Salvador, said helium hardly survived the ordeal.

“We were going done torture, carnal aggressions, intelligence aggressions,” helium said successful a video presented by Saab. “I was sexually abused.”

Others spoke of being held successful “inhuman cells”, deprived of sunlight and ventilation, and fixed rotten nutrient and unsafe drinking h2o portion successful the El Salvador prison.

The men had nary entree to lawyers oregon their relatives, and the past clip galore of them were seen was erstwhile Bukele’s authorities issued photos of them arriving astatine the situation shackled and with their heads shorn.

Apart from Bukele, Venezuela volition analyse El Salvador’s Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro and Head of Prisons Osiris Luna Meza, Saab said.

Bukele’s bureau did not instantly respond to a petition for remark from the media. Late connected Monday, Bukele posted astir the instrumentality connected societal media but did not remark connected the maltreatment allegations.

“The Maduro authorities was satisfied with the swap deal; that’s wherefore they accepted it,” helium said connected X. “Now they shriek their outrage, not due to the fact that they disagree with the woody but due to the fact that they conscionable realised they ran retired of hostages from the astir almighty state successful the world.”

President Nicolas Maduro, connected his TV amusement connected Monday, claimed Bukele had tried “last minute” to forestall the migrants from leaving.

“You could not halt the archetypal plane, but for the 2nd level helium enactment immoderate car connected the runway … to provoke either an mishap oregon forestall them from leaving,” helium said.

Venezuelan absorption person Maria Corina Machado labelled the process arsenic an “exchange of prisoners of war” during a tv interrogation connected Monday.

Venezuela itself faces an probe by the ICC successful The Hague, with akin allegations of torturing prisoners and denying them entree to ineligible practice of governmental prisoners.