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Maduro has demanded the immediate release of 250 Venezuelans
held in an El Salvador mega-prison built by Salvadoran President
Nayib Bukele to house gang members. Maduro claimed in his weekly
televised address on Monday that “Bukele is a serial violator of
the right to freedom, fair treatment, and human dignity.”
He urged that Bukele, instead of an exchange, sign “a decree
granting unconditional freedom” to the deportees.
For his part, Bukele in a post on X on Tuesday goaded Maduro,
asking wasn’t the Venezuelan leader the one who said he’d do
“whatever it takes” to secure the release of the Venezuelans
detained in El Salvador.
Bukele and Maduro's comments underscore the two leaders'
longstanding animosity, rooted in diametrically opposed
political visions. While both governments have faced fierce
democratic and human rights criticisms in recent years, Bukele
has increasingly cozied up to U.S. President Donald Trump while
right-wing figures have long held up Maduro as a example of
democratic decay.
Among those Bukele wants set free by Maduro are the son-in-law
of former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González,
several political leaders seeking asylum in the Argentine
Embassy in Venezuela, and what he said were 50 detained citizens
from a number of different countries across the world.
In his initial proposal on Sunday, Bukele also listed the mother
of Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose
house remains allegedly surrounded by Venezuelan police since
January.
The proposal triggered an angry response from Venezuela's
government, which demanded Bukele’s government provide a list of
all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador, along with details
about their health.
Bukele reiterated his proposal in the social media post on
Tuesday, citing Venezuela's 2023 prisoner swap with the Biden
administration for a Maduro ally.
“Weren’t you the one who said you would do “whatever it takes”
to secure the release of the Venezuelans detained in El
Salvador?” Bukele wrote on X, addressing Maduro.
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