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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent

Venezuela accuses El Salvador of human trafficking as prisoners caught in row between authoritarians

a composite image showing a man in profile looking off to the side and a man seated in a chair
Nicolas Maduro’s government has lashed out at the Salvadorian leader. Composite: AFP via Getty Images

Venezuela’s chief prosecutor has accused El Salvador’s president of being a “tyrannical” human trafficker after Nayib Bukele offered to exchange the 252 Venezuelan migrants deported to his country’s prisons by Donald Trump for the same number of political prisoners in Venezuela.

Bukele made the offer on Sunday night in a message addressed directly to his authoritarian counterpart Nicolás Maduro. “I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and delivery of an identical number … of the thousands of political prisoners that you hold,” El Salvador’s leader posted.

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