Home World 10 Americans are freed by Venezuela in a prisoner swap for migrants...

10 Americans are freed by Venezuela in a prisoner swap for migrants in El Salvador

A Venezuelan migrant who was jailed in El Salvador gestures as he gets off a plane at Simon Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela on Friday. El Salvador freed scores of Venezuelans deported from the United States to a notorious maximum security prison, the outcome of a highly coordinated prisoner swap between Caracas and Washington.

A Venezuelan migrant who was jailed in El Salvador gestures as he gets off a plane at Simon Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela on Friday. El Salvador freed scores of Venezuelans deported from the United States to a notorious maximum security prison, the outcome of a highly coordinated prisoner swap between Caracas and Washington. Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption

Federico Parra/AFP via Getty Images

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuela has freed 10 Americans in exchange for Venezuelans whom the United States had sent to a prison in El Salvador, the U.S. and Salvadoran governments said Friday.

Venezuela also released an unspecified number of Venezuelan political prisoners as part of the deal.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed the exchange in a message on X, saying his government handed over Venezuelans accused of being part of a gang in exchange for “a considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners” as well as Americans.

Sponsor Message

A social media account belonging to the State Department’s hostage affairs office posted a photo of the men it said were released from detention in Venezuela on a plane.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the United States welcomed the release of 10 Americans and of Venezuelan political prisoners.

The governments did not name the people released.

A State Department official told NPR that the people freed from Venezuela included U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were designated as “wrongfully detained” less than a year ago. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly, said the list included Wilbert Joseph Castañeda and Lucas Hunter.

In March, the Trump administration sent about 250 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, whose government was paid to house them in a maximum security prison, known as CECOT.

The United States accused many of the men of being gang members and deported them under the Alien Enemies Act, which had not been invoked since World War II.

Lawyers for the Venezuelan deportees argue their transfer to El Salvador was illegal. Dozens of them were in the middle of asylum cases, and had been held in U.S. detention centers for months.

Sponsor Message

On Friday, Bukele published a video of men in handcuffs he said were being handed over to Venezuela, as they boarded a plane taking them to the South American country.

Later, Venezuelan news outlet TeleSur broadcast what it said was the arrival of a plane carrying a group of the Venezuelan migrants home.

Bukele said the prisoner swap was the result of “months of negotiations.” It was kept secret until Friday — and some of the relatives of the Venezuelan migrants say they found out about it on social media.

Gabriela Mora, whose husband Carlos Uzcategui was one of the men sent by the U.S. to El Salvador, tells NPR she was at an event at her daughter’s school in Venezuela when she learned about the news.

“This makes us very happy,” she told NPR by phone from Lobatera, a town in Venezuela’s Tachira state. “We have waited for this day for too long.”

Uzcategui, a coal miner from Tachira, entered the U.S. in December after he received an appointment, through the U.S. government’s CBP One app, to cross the border and make his case for asylum in the country.

He was then held in a detention center in Texas. U.S. immigration officials alleged that tattoos of crowns and stars on his chest were linked to the Tren de Aragua gang. Uzcategui’s family says he got the tattoos 15 years ago, before the gang had even been established.

“He is not a gang member,” Mora said in an interview in May. “Just a hard working man who wants to provide for his family.”

NPR’s Michele Kelemen contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Must Read

European leaders urge for Ukraine to be included in Trump-Putin Alaska peace talks

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and French President Emmanuel Macron talk to media prior to talks at Villa Borsig on July 23 in Berlin. Christian Mang/Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Christian Mang/Getty Images As President Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin prepare to meet in Alaska later this week, European leaders have stressed that Ukraine

A new NPR series looks at the forces changing the world order

Jackie Lay/NPR For decades after the end of World War II, the phrase "liberal international order" was often associated with a few things: globalization, multilateralism, and a rules-based global system anchored by U.S. leadership. But today, this order is fracturing as authoritarian powers resurge and global alliances shift. Seen from Washington, President Trump's tariffs, doubts

Texas big game hunter killed while stalking African Cape buffalo

In this photo taken Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2015, a buffalo is seen in a pen at Melorani Safaris at Olifantsvallei, South Africa. Denis Farrell/AP hide caption toggle caption Denis Farrell/AP A Texas real estate magnate and trophy hunter was killed by a Cape buffalo during a hunting expedition in South Africa, according to a safari

An ancient archaeological site meets conspiracy theories — and Joe Rogan

A view of the ancient site of Gobekli Tepe, known as the world's oldest temple, in Sanliurfa, Turkey, on Feb. 17. Mustafa Hatipoglu/Anadolu via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Mustafa Hatipoglu/Anadolu via Getty Images GOBEKLI TEPE, Turkey — Tour guide Sabahattin Alkan herds curious tourists through the scorching afternoon heat, luring them with the

Italy is reviving plans for a bridge connecting Sicily to the mainland. Will it work?

An artistic rendering of the proposed 2-mile-long Strait of Messina Bridge between Sicily and the rest of Italy. Stretto di Messina hide caption toggle caption Stretto di Messina The Italian government this week gave the green light for construction to start on what it says would be the world's longest single-span suspension bridge. The Strait