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Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. (CMC file photo)
By Mauricio Torres and Lex Harvey, CNN
(CNN) — Venezuela’s leader has described the deportation of more than 200 mostly Venezuelan migrants sent by the United States to a notorious mega-prison in El Salvador as a “kidnapping,” and denied they are criminals while backing calls for their return.
“Nayib Bukele should not be an accomplice to this kidnapping, because our boys did not commit any crime in the United States, none,” Nicolas Maduro told supporters Wednesday, referencing El Salvador’s leader, who has struck a deal with US President Donald Trump.
“They were not brought to trial, they were not given the right to a defense, the right to due process, they were deceived, handcuffed, put on a plane, kidnapped, and sent to a concentration camp in El Salvador,” Maduro added.
The Venezuelan leader, who has ruled with an iron fist since 2013, said his government will deliver El Salvador an “official document” to request the return of the Venezuelan deportees, which will have the support of “millions” of signatures of Venezuelan citizens.
Over the weekend, Trump invoked an 18th-century wartime law to deport 238 Venezuelans it claims are part of the Tren de Aragua gang despite a court ruling halting the move, deepening tensions between the US and Venezuela. He defended the move arguing the US faced an “invasion” of migrants and described those deported as “a bad group of, as I say, hombres.”
The Venezuelans, along with 23 Salvadorans also deported, were sent to the Counter-Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) in Tecoluca, El Salvador, as part of an agreement between the US and El Salvador. The prison is notorious for the ruthless way it treats prisoners, which human rights organizations say is inhumane and violates human rights.
Venezuelans took to the streets of the capital Caracas Tuesday to rally against the deportations. Some claimed they identified their loved ones among the deported group in videos and photos shown on the news. Some relatives of men sent to El Salvador said their loved ones were not criminals and demanded they be returned home.
Maduro backed those calls.
“I celebrate that millions of men and women from Venezuela have come out to support the families of these young Venezuelans with their signatures, to officially demand that the Government of El Salvador free them from this kidnapping, not subject them to humiliation, and return them to us sooner rather than later,” he said.
The White House has not presented evidence that the deported Venezuelans belong to Tren de Aragua, a group linked to human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling and other crimes. In January, Trump designated Tren de Aragus and the Salvadoran MS-13 gang as foreign terrorist organizations.
The Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency said this week it conducted a thorough review of the profiles of the individuals in question to verify that they are part of criminal groups. The names of the deported individuals have not been released.
Some Venezuelans previously deported by the Trump administration have insisted they have nothing to do with the gang, such as Daniel Simancas Rodríguez, who spent 15 days in detention at Guantanamo Bay before being deported to Venezuela.
He recently told CNN that US authorities had suspected him because of his tattoos and because he was from the gang’s original stomping grounds in Maracay.
Maduro said Wednesday he ordered his government to increase the number of flights repatriating Venezuelan migrants detained in the US.
“We are going to return all migrants who have been detained to give them respect, dignity, support, and to return to their homeland and their families,” he said.
CNN reached out to the Presidency of El Salvador and the US Department of State for comment.
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