Venezuela Pledges to Free Citizens Deported to El Salvador Jail

(Bloomberg) -- Venezuela will do “whatever it takes” to free hundreds of its citizens deported by the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador, according to National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez.

“We will resort to all countries and bilateral relations, legal strategies,” Rodríguez said in a press conference on Monday. “We will even talk to the devil so that Venezuelans are returned to their homes.”

President Donald Trump’s administration deported 238 Venezuelans over the weekend, accusing them of membership of the Tren de Aragua gang. The deportees face incarceration in El Salvador’s so-called Terrorism Confinement Center under a deal reached between US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and President Nayib Bukele. 

The US hasn’t yet detailed how it identified the Venezuelans as members of the gang, which is designated a foreign terrorist organization.

The dispute threatens to complicate Venezuela’s attempts to get sanctions lifted in return for cooperating with Trump’s policy of mass deportations of migrants. The government of President Nicolás Maduro is particularly anxious that Washington continue to allow Chevron Corp to function in the country, since the oil major now supplies about 20% of Venezuela’s crude output, providing a large proportion of the economy’s hard currency.   

In a three-minute video released by Bukele, the migrants are shown being dragged out of planes and later forced to kneel and shaved by security officials before being imprisoned.   

“None of the Venezuelans taken there have committed a crime and they have been denied due process,” said Rodríguez, who repeatedly compared the migrants’ situation to the Holocaust. In the meantime, he said Venezuela’s government is advising against travel to the US. 

Alien Enemies 

On Saturday, Trump moved to accelerate deportations by invoking seldom-used powers under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, a statute previously employed to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II. 

The Trump administration insisted on Monday it had not defied a court, saying a judge’s order to halt the flight to El Salvador was issued after the migrants had already left US territory. The White House said the president has a constitutional authority to conduct foreign affairs and to “repel a declared invasion.” 

Rodríguez did not add details on a deal reached last week in which the US would resume deportation flights to Venezuela. The flights had been initially halted after Trump’s decision to revoke Chevron’s license to operate in the country.

Also Read: US to Resume Venezuela Deportee Flights on Friday

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