On Friday, the United States ordered the release of 252 Venezuelan migrants who were sent to El Salvador to be incarcerated in the country’s terrorism prison (CECOT), countering the White House’s assertion that it no longer had authority over the migrants. In return, Venezuela released 10 U.S. citizens who were held on terrorism charges after being arrested alongside U.S. military weapons being shipped into Venezuela in an alleged coup plot.
According to NPR, a State Department official said the people freed from Venezuela included U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were “wrongfully detained” despite being connected to weapons smuggling. The list included U.S. Navy sailor Wilbert Joseph Castañeda, who, at the time of his arrest, the Navy said was not on leave and was an active duty soldier. Now, his family alleges he was on vacation along with dual U.S.-French citizen Lucas Hunter.
Meanwhile, it appears the migrants who were deported to El Salvador were sent there to be used as bargaining chips with Venezuela to free the coup plotters. As the planes with Venezuelans and U.S. citizens were making their treks, the U.S. also released seven Venezuelan children. As many as 24 are still being held by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The children were separated from their families as Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents took their parents into custody for deportation.
“Today is a very special day. We are welcoming seven children who were freed, rescued, thanks to God, thanks to the mobilization of the people, and thanks to the conscience of the Revolutionary Government, which did everything in its power to rescue them,” said first lady Cilia Flores de Maduro. “Just as these children are here today, all children who have been separated from their families will come to Venezuela and be reunited with their families. It is a commitment,” she continued.
While it’s speculative to suggest that the Venezuelan children were part of using 252 migrants as pawns to negotiate the release of 10 U.S. citizens, we should not overlook that children have historically been used as weapons against immigrant parents both socially and politically. An administration that boasts about its cruelty, which it claims is being used as a deterrent, will undoubtedly wrongfully incarcerate children as well as adults in its efforts.
In a press release on Monday, President Maduro insisted, “The 24 children still kidnapped in the United States will also be rescued and returned to their mothers.”
Providing Cover
On Sunday, to distract from making Maduro seem like the hero for playing a major role in ensuring the ten U.S. citizens and 252 Venezuelans can all go home, DHS released a statement titled, “Six Months of Keeping America Safe Under President Trump and Secretary Noem.” While the agency claims many victories using rhetorical devices to create a more impressive impact than actually occurred, it’s a reminder that most of the Venezuelans sent to CECOT are innocent.
“In just six months, President Trump and Secretary Noem have delivered the American people a long list of victories in their mission to secure the homeland and Make America Safe Again,” reads the statement. “Under their leadership, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has closed the southern border, removed violent criminal illegal aliens, restored law and order to our immigration system, supported Americans in times of crisis, revolutionized our Coast Guard to meet the challenges of the 21st Century, and kept Americans safe.”
As the administration tries to defend itself against the obvious racial profiling the whole world can see, they also say Trump “empowered our brave men and women in law enforcement to use common sense to do their jobs effectively,” suggesting they are granting agents personal discretion. This is where discrimination, prejudice, and outright racism come into play as they brag about returning to using the term ‘illegal alien,’ as if it’s okay to dehumanize people.
The statement also mentions that “70% of ICE arrests are criminal illegal aliens with criminal charges or convictions.” However, the data tells a much different story, especially when the statistics show 75% of people sent to El Salvador had no criminal record. Data also shows that nearly 44% of ICE detainees in June had no criminal record, and more than 93 percent of ICE book-ins were never convicted of any violent offenses. About 90% had no convictions for violent crimes or property offenses, according to the Cato Institute.
“Most convictions (53 percent) fell into three main categories: immigration, traffic, or nonviolent vice crimes,” reads the Cato Institute report.
Despite the spin from the White House, this is a victory for the Venezuelan president, as evidenced by the nation celebrating the release of 252 Venezuelans illegally held in El Salvador–a celebration you won’t hear about in U.S. news media. Since the start of this administration, the White House has been regularly shamed by Latin American leaders. In this case, whether you like Maduro or not, this is the second win this year handed to him by cronies who don’t understand the politics of foreign policy.
“The President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro Moros, always willing to protect the lives and integrity of these Venezuelans subjected to serious human rights violations, did not hesitate to carry out this exchange and thus rescue these Venezuelan migrants kidnapped in El Salvador due to the actions of the most extremist sectors of the Venezuelan right,” reads a astement from the Venezuelan government.
Maduro even thanked Trump on Friday. When considering everything the U.S. accuses world leaders like Maduro of doing, what the U.S. has historically done and is doing today is arguably much worse. After this deal, it couldn’t be made clearer. The Venezuelan government jumped at the opportunity to denounce U.S. immigration policy and the El Salvadoran government’s torture of the deported migrants.
What’s Next?
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab launched an investigation into abuses at El Salvador’s CECOT prison. In a Monday press conference, Saab said interviews were conducted by 81 officials, including prosecutors and legal experts. “The details that can be known are minimal compared to the harsh and brutal reality that our compatriots experienced,” declared Saab.
“In this context, [Saab] explained that the complaints filed include: unlawful deprivation of liberty, torture, daily beatings, isolation in inhumane cells, deprivation of sunlight, systematic attacks with pellets, delivery of rotten food and unsafe water, and lack of medical care, among others,” reads a press release from the Maduro’s office.
Saab also denounced the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, for “ordering the torture and mistreatment of fellow citizens, being the mastermind, and I am sure he watched them day and night. There was not a single day or hour when they were not tortured, making him the worst murderer in the Western Hemisphere.”
Saab called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to act.
At least one non-governmental organization (NGO), Cristosal, in El Salvador, has called for an investigation into the country’s involvement in the unlawful detention of Venezuelan migrants. In May, Cristosal took up the defense of the Venezuelan migrants, filing 39 Habeas Corpus petitions with the Constitutional Chamber in El Salvador, challenging their detentions. At the time, the agency also called for an investigation into the human rights violations.
So what did the U.S. gain from all of this wasted taxpayer money aside from being cruel to nonwhite people in the worst way possible in the modern era?
Nothing.
The U.S. could have easily sent the 252 migrants directly to Venezuela, as the country has been accepting repatriation flights. But the White House chose to use them as pawns to free suspected terrorists who were jailed for allegedly attempting to overthrow the Venezuelan government. They want you to believe the migrants they sent to El Salvador were the criminals.
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