Maduro Gov’t Negotiates Return of 252 Venezuelans Detained by US in El Salvador

Mexico City, Mexico, July 18, 2025 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Two hundred fifty-two Venezuelan nationals deported by the United States and detained for months in El Salvador’s high-security Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) arrived back in their homeland after a successful negotiation by the Nicolás Maduro government.

Following a months-long campaign demanding their release, the Venezuelan men arrived Friday at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in La Guaira, Venezuela, on board two separate flights.

The arrival ceremony at Maiquetía International Airport was attended by top Venezuelan officials, including Vice President Delcy Rodríguez, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, and National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, who served as the lead negotiator for the swap that saw the men returned in exchange for 10 US citizens and permanent residents in Venezuelan custody. 

The Maduro government was a vocal defender of the rights of the Venezuelan nationals who were forcibly expelled from the US in March and sent to El Salvador under the 1798 Alien Enemies Act based on allegations of belonging to the so-called Tren de Aragua gang. Subsequent investigations and intelligence reports contradicted the Trump administration’s gang membership accusations and found that the majority had no criminal record.

“We made an exchange and paid a high price, but we had to release them,” said Maduro.

Caracas accused Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele of “kidnapping” the men held inside the notorious CECOT prison as part of a deal with Trump, who reportedly agreed to pay Bukele $20,000 per detainee yearly. 

“We went to retrieve them from the concentration camps and have brought them back safe and sound,” the president added.

The arrest and forced expulsion of the men prompted lawsuits, protests inside both Venezuela and the United States demanding their liberation, visits by US lawmakers to El Salvador, and a showdown with the press inside the Oval Office involving Bukele and Trump.

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello criticized the insufficient response by international organizations which failed to secure the release of the men from custody.

“Those bodies have done virtually nothing,” affirmed Cabello. “If there’s justice at the UN, there should be an investigation.”

Ultimately, it was direct negotiations by the Maduro government with the US that finally led to the release of the men. 

Cabello further specified that Bukele was not central to the negotiations and even accused the Salvadoran president of trying to sabotage the deal by impeding the takeoff of the flights carrying the men. A submission sent by the Bukele government to the United Nations Human Rights Office claimed that despite being held inside El Salvador, the US continued to exercise legal jurisdiction over the men sent to CECOT from the US.

Caracas rebuffed an earlier swap proposed by Buekele, calling his proposal “cynical.”

The interior minister also accused Bukele’s government of torturing the detainees, alleging that they had all been wounded while in custody and security forces fired upon them before they were allowed to board their flights.

The New York Times reported that negotiations between Caracas and Washington had been underway since at least May but were hindered by disorganization on the part of the Trump White House that made two different offers.

The deal involved the release of 10 US citizens held in Venezuelan custody, accused of involvement in destabilization plans. The group included Navy sailor Wilbert Castañeda, who was arrested in August 2024. The negotiations likewise led to the release of a reported 80 Venezuelan nationals. The final list had not been published at the time of writing, with unconfirmed reports of several anti-government politicians among those released.

Friday also saw Washington allow for the return of seven Venezuelan children who were in foster care in the US. 

Venezuelans recently marched to demand the repatriation of 31 Venezuelan children reportedly separated from their parents and held in US custody. The Maduro government secured the return of two-year-old Maikelys Antonella Espinoza, who was repatriated to Venezuela and reunited with her mother in May. Her father, 25-year-old Maiker Espinoza Escalona, is among the 252 men released from El Salvador.

Edited by Ricardo Vaz in Caracas.