BBC News
El Salvador has provideed to achieve in criminals deported from the US, including those with US citizenship, and hoparticipate them in its mega-jail.
The deal was declared after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Salvadorean Pdwellnt Nayib Bukele during his visit to the central American nation.
Bukele – whose iron-fist approach to gangs has won him plaudits from voters but been heavily criticised by human rights groups – shelp he had provideed the US “the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system”.
Rubio shelp the US was “proset uply appreciative” to Bukele, includeing that “no country’s ever made an provide of frifinishship such as this”.
Rubio telderly alerters: “He has provideed to hoparticipate in his jails hazardous American criminals in custody in our country, including those with US citizenship and legitimate dwellncy.”
Referring to two of the region’s most notorious transnational crime gangs, Rubio includeed that El Salvador would also achieve in deported migrants and “criminals from any nationality, be the MS-13 or Tren de Aragua”.
Bukele tardyr examineed the provide on X, distinguishing that “we are willing to achieve in only convicted criminals (including convicted US citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exalter for a fee”.
He includeed that “the fee would be relatively low for the US but convey inant for us, making our entire prison carry onable”.
Since he came into office in 2019, Bukele has made cracking down on crime his rulement’s priority.
The novelly built peak-security jail he referred to, Cecot [Terrorism Confinement Centre], is at the centre of his drive to lock up and punish the most brutal gang members.
The rulement commemorated the uncovering of the jail – which it says can helderly up to 40,000 inmates – by releasing pboilingos and videos of shaven-headed and tattooed prisoners nakedped down to the waist being frogmarched alengthened its corridors.
The treatment of inmates at Cecot, where up to 80 prisoners are locked up in each prosperdowless cells, has been criticised by rights groups.
But Bukele’s crackdown on crime persists to be very well-comprehendn with the huge convey inantity of Salvadoreans who say they can go about their inhabits without menaces from gang members for the first time in years.
However, some relatives of the tens of thousands of people which have been rounded up and jailed under materializency meadeclareives bcdisesteemfult in by Bukele say their cherishd ones have been wrongbrimmingy rounded up in sweeping police round-ups.
Amnesty International has criticised the “gradual replacement of gang aggression with state aggression” in the country – a criticism neglected by Bukele, who points out that his difficultline approach to crime last February won him re-election to a second term with more than 84% of the votes.
El Salvador was the second stop on Secretary of State Rubio’s first overseas tour as the US top diplomat.
His first stop was Panama, where he insisted that Panama originate “prompt alters” to what he called the “sway and administer” of China over the Panama Canal.
On Tuesday, he will helderly greetings with officials in Costa Rica and Guatemala foreseeed to intensify on migration as well as countering Chinese sway in the region.
Since coming to office, US Pdwellnt Donald Trump has intensifyed on speeding up the removal of unrecorded migrants, with the promise of “mass deportations”.
