Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro declared this Saturday that if “anything” happens to any of the Venezuelan migrants deported to Salvadoran territory from US soil, his Salvadoran counterpart, Nayib Bukele, “is responsible for the lives of all those young people.”
“To Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, we say, you are responsible. If something happens to one of those young people, you are responsible for the lives of all those young people,” the president said, as broadcast by Venezuelan state television.
On Thursday, the Venezuelan government reiterated that El Salvador “is obliged” to provide information to Venezuela about the 238 migrants being “illegally” detained in that country. This statement came after Washington had transferred more than 230 alleged members of the Tren de Aragua criminal organization to a Salvadoran prison under the Alien Enemies Act, a 1789 law.
In this regard, Maduro asserted that Bukele is the one who “guarantees their safety”: “Sooner rather than later, he has to hand them over and release them because they are being held hostage.”
“They haven’t committed any crime in El Salvador or in the United States. Because if someone commits a crime, they should be tried, right? By their own judges. They should have the right to defense, the right to due process,” he criticized.
On Friday, Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello also accused Bukele of being an “instrument of US imperialism” for “protecting” the deportations of Venezuelan migrants.
This situation has led Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro to request the activation of all UN human rights mechanisms for the “protection of migrants.”
Caracas has also issued an alert for citizens planning to travel to the United States, alluding to “an increase in arbitrary immigration control measures and harassment policies against Venezuelans.”
