A large group of Venezuelans, previously deported by the United States and jailed in El Salvador, landed back in Venezuela on Friday. Their return came as part of a prisoner exchange deal that ended a months-long crisis criticized by international human rights organizations.
Two planes carrying these men touched down in the evening at Caracas’ main airport. President Nicolás Maduro publicly thanked former U.S. President Donald Trump for helping to facilitate the swap.
“Free, free at last!” Maduro declared at a public gathering, celebrating the release of his countrymen.
The Trump administration confirmed that the men were released in return for 10 Americans who had been jailed in Venezuela, as well as an unspecified number of Venezuelan political prisoners.
Back in March, the U.S. had deported 252 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, accusing them without solid evidence of being connected to the Tren de Aragua gang. The group was confined in CECOT, a high-security anti-terrorism prison known for its strict conditions.
Trump used rarely applied emergency laws typically reserved for wartime situations to send the group to El Salvador without any legal hearings. “Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country,” Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele wrote on X.
Relatives of those jailed waited eagerly for their return. Mercedes Yamarte, mother of one detainee, Mervin Yamarte, said, “I can’t contain my happiness.” She told AFP, “I arranged the reception, what am I going to do? I’ll make a soup.”
As the first plane landed, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and other officials boarded the aircraft. Passengers could be heard singing the Venezuelan national anthem in joy.
Maduro thanked Trump for “the decision to rectify this totally irregular situation.”
The government has not officially released the exact number of migrants who returned on the two flights.
On Friday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio wrote on X: “Ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom,” and he confirmed that the agreement also included “the release of Venezuelan political prisoners.”
Rubio also thanked Bukele “for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees.”
The U.S. Embassy in Caracas shared a photo of the returning Americans waving U.S. flags. Back in the U.S., families celebrated their return—some had waited nearly a year.
The nonprofit Global Reach, which supports wrongfully jailed Americans, said Lucas Hunter, aged 37, was one of the freed individuals. He had been held in Venezuela since January after being “kidnapped” by Venezuelan border guards while on vacation in Colombia.
His sister, Sophie Hunter, shared her relief: “We cannot wait to see him in person and help him recover from the ordeal.”
Even Uruguay announced that one of its nationals who was living in the United States had been released after spending nine months in Venezuelan custody.
Venezuela’s government acknowledged in a statement that it had made a major concession to bring its citizens back. Maduro described the exchange as giving up “terrorists for innocents.”
In addition to the Americans' release, the statement added that some Venezuelans convicted of common crimes or offenses against the state were granted alternative legal measures instead of jail.
Foro Penal, a Venezuelan prisoner rights group, said it was working to confirm the identities of those included in the exchange.
Earlier on Friday, another plane arrived in Venezuela from Houston, carrying 244 more deported Venezuelans along with seven children. Minister Cabello said these minors had been “rescued from the kidnapping to which they were being subjected.”
According to the Venezuelan government, these seven children were part of a larger group of 30 minors who remained in the U.S. after their parents had been deported.
The Trump administration has made deporting undocumented migrants a priority. It reached an agreement with Maduro to return such individuals to Venezuela. In addition to U.S. flights, daily deportation flights also arrive from Mexico, where many Venezuelans were caught trying to enter the U.S.
Official figures show that since February, over 8,200 Venezuelans, including around 1,000 children, have been sent back home from the United States and Mexico.
The Venezuelans who were detained in CECOT had no access to phone calls or family visits. Their families pleaded for proof of life, but authorities never responded.
CECOT was built under President Bukele as part of his harsh crackdown on organized crime. To house the Venezuelans, the U.S. government paid El Salvador millions of dollars.
Human rights organizations like Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have strongly condemned these detentions, calling them a clear violation of human rights.
