Migrants in El Salvador prison swapped for Americans held in Venezuela

UPI

18-07-2025

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem toured the Terrorist Confinement Center CECOT with El Salvador's minister of Justice and Public Security Gustavo Villatoro in Tecoluca, El Salvador, on March 26. File Photo by Tia Dufour/U.S. Department of Homeland Security | License Photo
July 18 (UPI) -- About 250 Venezuelan migrants deported to El Salvador's maximum-security prison in March have been sent to Venezuela as part of a prisoner swap that included Americans on Friday.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rucio posted on X: "Thanks for @Potus' leadership, ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom."
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele 10 minutes earlier posted on X: "Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country, accused of being part of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua. As was offered to the Venezuelan regime back in April, we carried out this exchange in return for a considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners, people that regime had kept in its prisons for years, as well as all the American citizens it was holding as hostages."
The post included video of deportees boarding a plane.
Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country, accused of being part of the criminal organization Tren de Aragua (TDA). Many of them face multiple charges of murder, robbery, rape, and other serious crimes.
As was offered to the Venezuelan... pic.twitter.com/teuIT4GiRT— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) July 18, 2025
"These individuals are now en route to El Salvador, where they will make a brief stop before continuing their journey home," Bukele said.
The freed Americans include former Navy SEAL Wilbert Joseph Castaneda, who was detained last year while on personnel travel, three sources told CBS News.
"We have prayed for this day for almost a year. My brother is an innocent man who was used as a political pawn by the Maduro regime," Castaneda's family said in a statement.
He had suffered several traumatic brain injuries during his 18 years in the Navy and his decision-making was affected, his family said.
The State Department warned Americans not to travel to Venezuela.
The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela posted a photo of the freed Americans and U.S. diplomat John McNamara.
Nothing says freedom like the American flag. Ten Americans freed from Venezuelan prisons today are coming home because of @POTUS, @SecRubio & @nayibbukele.
America First in action. pic.twitter.com/pc6bI0Wgnx— Embajada de los EE.UU., Venezuela (@usembassyve) July 18, 2025
The Venezuelan government also released several dozen people described as Venezuelan political prisoners and detainees, a senior administration official told CBS News.
The flight, which originated from Texas, included several children, Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela's minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, said in televised remarks.
"We will keep demanding the return of all the Venezuelans kidnapped by the government of the United States, kidnapped by the government of El Salvador," he said. "All of them, we demand that they return them to our country. To their home country."
Family members told CNN they had been told to gather for an emergency meeting in Venezuela ahead of the release.
The Trump administration made a deal with Bukele to send the deported migrants to CECOT prison as part of a $6 million deal.
Bukele said there were "months of negotiations with a tyrannical regime that had long refused to release one of its most valuable bargaining chips: its hostages.
"However, thanks to the tireless efforts of many officials from both the United States and El Salvador, and above all, thanks to Almighty God, it was achieved."
Rubio also congratulated those involved in the negotiations: "I want to thank my team at the @StateDept & especially President @nayibbukele for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees, plus the release of Venezuelan political prisoners."
In March, the CECOT detainees were sent under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act of 1798, which is rarely deployed and used typically during wartime.
The Trump administration declared Trend de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang, an invading force.
Family members have said the detainees were denied due process and are not members of the gang.
Kilmer Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran man living legally in the United States, was mistakenly deported from Baltimore to the prison without due process. The Trump administration acknowledged the mistake in a legal filing though they still allege he is a member of the MS-13 gang.
He was initially at the prison but went to another one in the county.
In April, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered the Trump administration to facilitate his return to the U.S. He was sent in June to face federal smuggling charges in Tennesse, which he denies.