International
President Nayib Bukele has said that the payment for sending deportees to the CECOT is “very low” for Trump’s government, but significant for El Salvador.
Alleged members of the Venezuelan criminal organization Train de Aragua arrive at CECOT, in Tecoluca, El Salvador, sent by the United States government. (Free Press Photo: Press Office of the Presidency of El Salvador / AFP)
Dozens of deportees from the USA, indicated to belong to terrorist organizations, have been sent to the Center for Confinement of Terrorism (CECOT) of El Salvador, a prison that President Nayib Bukele defines as a model for the regional prison system. However, that has a cost for the administration of Donald Trump.
In a recent agreement, the United States government will pay El Salvador US $ 6 million for imprisoning approximately 300 alleged members of the Venezuelan Criminal Band of Aragua. Gangs and other deportees have also been sent, some exprisioneros of Guantanamo, the American prison in which Al Qaeda terrorists are, among others.
The sending of such prisoners to El Salvador was possible thanks to the US Department of State for Aragua and other Latin American criminal groups as global terrorist organizations.
According to Bukele, these people will remain in Salvadoran prisons for a year, with the possibility of expanding that period. However, USA
According to Memorandas obtained by the AP news agency, the United States will pay US $ 20,000 per year for each deporting housed in Salvadoran prisons, which adds a total of US $ 6 million for the 300 alleged members of the Aragua Train. In addition, the US government would reserve additional US $ 15 million to cover possible future transfers from other members of the organization.
Although Bukele did not confirm the exact figures, according to the medium The graphic pressthe Salvadoran president described the payment as “very low” for the United States, but significant for El Salvador.
The Trump administration has defended the expulsions by accusing deported migrants of having links with transnational criminal organizations Train of Aragua-outlined in a Venezuelan prison-and the Mara Salvatrucha gang (MS-13), considered by Washington as terrorist groups. However, multiple American media investigations have shown that most of those sent to El Salvador have no criminal record.