Trump administration in talks to send Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador prisons

By YOLANDA MAGAÑA, Associated Press

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Trump medication said Friday it was successful talks with El Salvador to revive an statement that could let the United States to nonstop non-Salvadoran migrants to the Central American country.

This time, though, the authorities would besides purpose to nonstop members of the Venezuelan pack Tren de Aragua to Salvadoran prisons, said Mauricio Claver-Carone, the State Department’s peculiar envoy for Latin America, successful a telephone with media outlets.

It comes aft a harsh crackdown connected the country’s gangs by El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. Bukele suspended cardinal law rights successful 2022 and arrested 84,000 people, much than 1% of the country’s population. The bulk of them stay successful situation without being sentenced.

Bukele’s authorities did not instantly respond to a petition for remark from The Associated Press.

The crackdown has fueled quality rights criticisms but has resulted successful a crisp driblet successful unit successful El Salvador, erstwhile plagued by the warring Mara Salvatrucha (MS-13) and Barrio 18 gangs.

Despite concerns implicit democracy, Bukele has drawn the admiration of galore American right-wing figures. Simultaneously, the Venezuelan pack Tren de Aragua has besides go a buzzword for Trump successful speeches and politicians connected the right.

“If we perpetrate to reviving this statement and see … members of the Tren de Aragua gang, I stake they’re going to privation to spell backmost to Venezuela alternatively of dealing with the Mara prisons successful El Salvador,” Claver-Carone said.

Claver-Carone spoke astir the talks up of Secretary of State Marco Rubio ‘s travel to Latin America. Rubio is acceptable to sojourn El Salvador connected Monday betwixt visits to Panama, Guatemala, Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic.

Top connected the docket is migration, and Rubio is apt to propulsion allies similar Bukele to assistance the Trump medication successful its migratory crackdown and to judge migrants from countries similar Venezuela, Nicaragua and Cuba that mostly don’t judge deportation flights from the U.S.

Claver-Carone provided fewer further details astir what “reviving” the statement would entail. Trump successful 2019 carried retired a programme known arsenic “Safe Third Countries.”

During his archetypal term, Trump reached agreements that would necessitate radical to use for protective presumption successful countries deemed “safe” that they passed done earlier reaching the U.S. border.

But it was sharply criticized arsenic a mode to chopped disconnected entree for radical to use for asylum successful the U.S. There were besides doubts astir the information of susceptible radical successful El Salvador, Guatemala and Honduras, countries terrorized by gangs that often prey connected susceptible migrants.

Reviving the programme would conscionable beryllium the latest measurement by Trump successful slashing entree to asylum aft a slate of enforcement actions successful his archetypal days successful office.

In the Friday call, Claver-Carone besides called Bukele “the astir consequential president successful the region” and an “ally” connected migration issues.

As Salvadoran migration to the U.S. dipped successful caller years, Bukele has taken steps to artifact migrants from passing done the state connected the mode to the U.S. amid pressures from the Biden administration. As helium did, the Biden medication toned down criticisms of Bukele aft informing of antiauthoritarian backsliding successful El Salvador.