Venezuela on Friday released 10 jailed U.S. citizens and permanent residents in a deal that secured the return of dozens of migrants previously deported by the United States to El Salvador under the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, officials confirmed.
The three-nation agreement marks a diplomatic win for Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, advances President Donald Trump’s effort to repatriate Americans imprisoned overseas, and delivers on a prisoner swap proposal initiated months ago by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, The Associated Press reported.
“Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland,” Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement in which he thanked Bukele, a Trump ally.
Bukele said his country had handed over all the Venezuelan nationals in its custody. Maduro described Friday as “a day of blessings and good news for Venezuela.” He called it “the perfect day for Venezuela.”
At the heart of the deal are more than 250 Venezuelan migrants who were released by El Salvador after being held in its notorious mega-prison, the Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT).
In March, El Salvador agreed to a $6 million payment from the Trump administration to detain the migrants, most of whom had been accused—without public evidence—of ties to the violent Tren de Aragua street gang.
The arrangement sparked immediate backlash after Trump invoked the 18th-century Alien Enemies Act to expedite their removal, leading to a high-profile legal battle that eventually reached the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Venezuelans were imprisoned in CECOT, a facility built as part of Bukele’s crackdown on gangs. Human rights groups have reported hundreds of deaths and documented cases of torture inside the prison, where access to legal counsel is extremely limited.
Independent information has been scarce, with the government releasing only heavily produced propaganda videos showing tattooed inmates crammed behind bars, the AP noted.
Photos and videos released by the Salvadoran government on Friday showed shackled Venezuelan migrants sitting on buses and boarding planes under heavy police presence, surrounded by officers in full riot gear.
One man glanced upward and pointed toward the sky as he stepped onto a plane, while another flashed an obscene gesture at officers, the AP noted.
Upon landing in Venezuela, several migrants crossed themselves, wept, and embraced each other. They wore street clothes and face masks, visibly emotional as they returned home.
Maduro claimed that several of the migrants suffered abuse while imprisoned in El Salvador, alleging that one individual lost a kidney “due to the beatings he received.”
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello told reporters that the men would undergo medical evaluations and background checks before being allowed to return home.
Among them is reportedly Andry Hernández Romero, a makeup artist who fled Venezuela last year and was detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at a border crossing in San Diego before being transferred to El Salvador.
In April, Bukele proposed trading the Venezuelan detainees for an equal number of what he described as “political prisoners” held by Maduro. The suggestion drew a sharp rebuke from Venezuelan officials, who condemned the remarks as “cynical” and labeled Bukele a “neofascist,” according to the AP report.
The State Department office tasked with securing the release of American detainees shared a photo Friday evening showing the freed prisoners smiling aboard the plane bringing them home, some proudly holding an unfurled American flag.
The aircraft landed late Friday at Joint Base San Antonio, where the returnees waved flags and rushed to embrace loved ones waiting on the tarmac.
Among those released was 37-year-old Lucas Hunter, whose family says he was kidnapped in January by Venezuelan border guards while vacationing in Colombia, said the AP.