El Salvador Offers to Jail US Convicts in “Unprecedented” Agreement Praised by Rubio
In a move described as “unprecedented,” El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has offered to incarcerate convicts from the United States in his country’s prisons, Al Jazeera reports.
The offer, lauded by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, was made during a meeting between the two leaders at Bukele’s residence on Lake Coatepeque on Monday.
Following the three-hour discussion, Rubio told reporters that Bukele had “agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.”
The agreement seemingly includes El Salvador accepting not only its own citizens convicted in the US, but also foreign nationals. Rubio suggested that the focus within El Salvador would be on incarcerating members of Latin American gangs, such as El Salvador’s MS-13 and Venezuela’s Tren de Aragua.
The proposal raises questions given the well-documented conditions within El Salvador’s prison system. The US State Department describes El Salvador’s overcrowded prisons as “harsh and dangerous,” noting that “in many facilities, provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, temperature control, and lighting are inadequate or nonexistent.”
The announcement comes as President Trump has reportedly considered plans to detain 30,000 migrants at the US base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, a facility that previous Democratic presidents sought to close.
Bukele, who has initiated a strict security crackdown within El Salvador, is viewed by the Trump administration as a crucial ally in its efforts to manage migration. Since assuming office in 2019, Bukele’s government has arrested over 80,000 individuals, leading to a significant decline in homicides in a nation once considered among the most violent globally.
Despite facing criticism from human rights organizations for alleged mass torture and abuse within the country’s overcrowded jails, Bukele enjoyed strong public support and secured a landslide re-election victory last year, largely attributed to the dramatic reduction in crime.
