CARACAS (Reuters) – El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed a deal on Sunday to send 252 Venezuelans deported by the United States and imprisoned in his country back to Venezuela in exchange for the release of detainees in the South American nation, a suggestion roundly rejected by the Venezuelan government.
Many lawyers and relatives of the Venezuelans detained in El Salvador claim they were not gang members and were denied due process. The U.S. Supreme Court on Saturday temporarily barred the Trump administration from deporting a similar group.
Although Bukele in his post on X called the people detained in Venezuela political prisoners, the Venezuelan government has consistently denied that it detains people for political reasons and argues, usually without providing evidence, that activists and opposition members are planning attacks against the country.
Human rights groups and lawyers have denied the charges against those mentioned by Bukele and reported that they lack private defense and are experiencing delays in their court hearings.
Among those mentioned by Bukele were:
Rafael Tudares
Tudares, 45, is the son-in-law of Edmundo Gonzalez, the former opposition presidential candidate who is considered the winner of Venezuela’s 2024 election by the United States and others. Tudares, an attorney who was not involved in politics, was detained on January 7 in Caracas by masked men while driving his two young children to school.Roland Carreno
Carreno is a journalist and member of opposition party Voluntad Popular. He was arrested in August 2024 in Caracas by intelligence agents, according to the party. Carreno, 59, had previously been detained for three years on charges of financing terrorism. He was released in October 2023 amid negotiations between Caracas and Washington.
Rocio San Miguel
A 58-year-old lawyer and activist and an expert on security and human rights, San Miguel is president of the non-governmental organization Citizen Control. She was detained at the international airport near Caracas in February 2024 while traveling with her daughter. The attorney general’s office accuses her of espionage, among other crimes.
Magalli Meda, Pedro Urruchurtu, Claudia Macero, Humberto Villalobos and Omar Gonzalez
The five, members of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s campaign team for the 2024 presidential elections, are not detained, but have been living in Argentina’s diplomatic residence in Caracas for more than a year.
The group entered the residence as guests after the attorney general’s office announced warrants against them for alleged acts of conspiracy against the government, which all deny.
Despite an offer from Argentina to grant them asylum, the Venezuelan government has refused to provide them with safe passage to leave the country. Following the departure of Argentina’s diplomatic team after the elections, the residence has been placed under Brazilian custody.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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