Unprecedented images circulated over the weekend in the media. This is the first deportation that the United States made to the Center for Terrorism Confinement (CECOT), the maximum-security prison that President Nayib Bukele built in El Salvador. The 238 detainees are Venezuelan immigrants, accused of being members of the terrorist organization Tren de Aragua.
PUBLICIDAD
The photos and videos of the transfer demonstrate the treatment given to this type of deported individuals, who are not only chained, but barely touch Salvadoran soil, they are pushed, pointed at with long guns, and pulled by their hair. The transfer is done by plane and helicopters, and in the final stretch, they are taken in buses that travel in a caravan to Bukele’s prison, where upon arrival, amid shoving, they are thrown to the ground and forced to kneel, to be forcibly shaved. Finally, they are dressed in white uniforms and put into windowless cells with metal bunk beds.
PUBLICIDAD
“Today the first 238 members of the Venezuelan criminal organization, Tren de Aragua, arrived in our country. They were immediately transferred to CECOT, the Terrorism Confinement Center, for a period of one year (extendable),” said Bukele this Sunday.
On behalf of the United States government, Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated in X that “we are sending over 250 members of the Tren de Aragua, which El Salvador has agreed to keep in their very good prisons at a fair price that will also save money for our taxpayers.”
In addition to the immigrants identified as being from the Tren de Aragua, there are 23 others accused of being MS-13 gang members. According to authorities, there are two high-ranking leaders among both groups.
Although the United States government identifies the deported individuals as members of the Water Train, there are voices of family members that refute this version, instilling fear in Venezuelan immigrants of being accused of being part of this group solely based on their nationality.
Human rights defenders argue that even for those who are truly members of this criminal organization, the treatment they receive violates their rights.
Why the treatment of the alleged members of the Tren de Aragua and MS-13 to Bukele’s prison?
Since President Donald Trump began deportations, his counterpart Nayib Bukele from El Salvador offered his CECOT prison in exchange for a payment, the amount of which is still unknown.
The extreme treatment of inmates in Bukele’s prison is because it is a penitentiary for terrorists. As it will be recalled, the Tren de Aragua, which originated in a prison in the state of Aragua in Venezuela, was declared a terrorist organization in the United States. The designation of this group at this level qualifies them to go to the Salvadoran prison. In addition to this, in order to carry out the deportation of the detainees identified as members of this organization, Trump appealed to the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 (going against a judge’s ruling), a law that has only been applied three times in the history of the United States.
AP explained that the aforementioned law was used in the First and Second World Wars, as well as in the War of 1812. This legislation requires the president to declare that the United States is at war, granting him extraordinary powers to detain or expel foreigners who would otherwise have protections under immigration or criminal laws. The third time it was used was to justify the detention of Japanese-American civilians during the Second World War.
This is life in Bukele’s prison.
The prison that Bukele inaugurated in January 2023 has the capacity to house more than 40,000 inmates.
The inmates are in their windowless cells 24 hours a day and only come out for 30 minutes to a windowless hallway to exercise. They sleep on metal bunk beds.
In this megaprison, you can’t see the sun. The president himself expressed on his social media in 2022, after a violent weekend, that: “Message to the gangs: because of your actions, your kids won’t be able to see a ray of sunshine.”