El Salvador's Bukele slams Venezuela over migrant abuse probe
More than 250 migrants held in a notorious Salvadoran prison returned to Venezuela on Friday as part of a prisoner exchange agreed with the United States.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele gestures as he delivers a speech during the inauguration of the Key Institute, a private institution of higher education specialising in engineering and science in San Salvador on 19 March 2025. Picture: AFP
SAN SALVADOR - Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele lashed out at the Venezuelan government on Monday after it announced an investigation into alleged torture of migrants deported by the United States and jailed in El Salvador.
More than 250 migrants held in a notorious Salvadoran prison returned to Venezuela on Friday as part of a prisoner exchange agreed with the United States.
The deal involved the release of 10 US citizens and residents detained in Venezuela.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced an investigation on Monday against Bukele and other Salvadoran officials, whom he accused of committing crimes against humanity for alleged abuses of migrants imprisoned for nearly four months in El Salvador.
The migrants, jailed in CECOT prison built to house dangerous gang members, suffered sexual abuse, daily beatings, rotten food, and torture, Saab said.
Bukele said on social media that President Nicolas Maduro's government was "satisfied with the exchange agreement; that's why they accepted it".
Authorities in Venezuela "are now shouting and getting angry, not because they disagree with the deal, but because they just realized they're no longer holding hostages from the most powerful country in the world (the United States)," he added.
In March, Washington sent the Venezuelans to El Salvador after US President Donald Trump invoked rarely used wartime laws to deport the men without court hearings.
The move sparked an international backlash from human rights groups, and relatives and lawyers have claimed many of those deported had no gang ties.
After testifying to Venezuelan authorities, the returned migrants will start reuniting with their families, Saab said.
Since their return, officials said they have received medical checks and new identity cards.