Over 230 Venezuelans were flown in March to Bukele’s notorious CECOT prison, along with around a dozen Salvadorans, under a $6 million deal struck by President Donald Trump’s government.
In an interview with AFP in Caracas late Thursday, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab took aim at Bukele, suggesting he was little better than a people smuggler.
“International justice will be done against Bukele on this issue,“ said Saab, who along with Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has been subject to US sanctions for years over allegedly suppressing their country’s democratic opposition.
Some have been charged in US courts with violent offenses, but many have not.
Slickly produced footage of their arrival in El Salvador -- including chained and tattooed men having their heads shaved and being frog-marched by masked guards -- was widely promoted by both the Salvadoran and US governments.
“The Venezuelans who were deprived of their liberty in El Salvador resided in the United States without having previously committed any crime in that country” said Saab “much less in El Salvador.”
Bedfellows
His hardline rhetoric against El Salvador’s powerful gangs has made him one of the world’s most domestically popular leaders.
In 2021, his government was accused by the administration of then-president Joe Biden of secretly striking deals with gang leaders.
During the meeting Trump thanked Bukele for “helping us out” and called him a “hell of a president”, as both enjoyed several minutes criticizing the media and talking about transgender athletes in women’s sports.
Bukele has in turn taunted the Venezuelan government about the detained men, offering to exchange them for political prisoners in Venezuela.
Saab called that offer “cynical” and demanded a complete list of the detained migrants.
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