Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said on Saturday that 324 Venezuelan migrants were sent by the United States to a high-security prison in El Salvador. This number is more than what was said before. However, he mentioned that neither the U.S. nor El Salvador has provided him with an official list of these individuals.
U.S. President Donald Trump used a special wartime law to send the Venezuelans to El Salvador on March 16, without giving them a chance for a court hearing. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed that 238 Venezuelans were brought to his country because the United States accused them of being involved with a criminal gang called Tren de Aragua.
Maduro expressed anger over the situation, comparing the treatment of these migrants to the actions taken in Nazi concentration camps. He did not explain where he got the number 324 and acknowledged he has not received an official list of those sent. No official statement has come from the U.S. or El Salvador recognizing who was sent.
The Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), which includes countries like Cuba and Bolivia, supports Maduro’s statement. Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez called the situation a “cruel and inhuman act.” Bolivian Foreign Minister Celinda Sosa also said they cannot accept the criminalization and harsh treatment of migrants.
Maduro wants these individuals to be returned to Venezuela and has hired a law firm in El Salvador to help. He has also spoken with UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres to ask for assistance. Since 2019, Venezuela and the U.S. have not had diplomatic ties, but they recently discussed deportation flights, which had stopped after Trump blocked the oil company Chevron from working in the country. Flights resumed last week, and Venezuela has received 743 deportees from the U.S., with another 229 expected to arrive on Sunday.
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