Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele proposed a prisoner exchange with Venezuela on Sunday, offering to release Venezuelans deported to his country from the United States in exchange for political prisoners in Venezuela.

Bukele has accepted from the U.S. at least 238 Venezuelans deported under allegations of being affiliated with the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 gangs, with San Salvador accepting at least $6 million for imprisoning the deportees.

Bukele said 252 Venezuelans held in El Salvador could be released as part of a “humanitarian” exchange, if Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro agreed to release people who have “committed no crime” and are imprisoned for opposing “your electoral fraud.”

Among the political prisoners Bukele called for releasing were Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of Edmundo González, the internationally-recognized victor of presidential elections held in July 2024. Bukele also called........

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