In a post on X, addressed to Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, Bukele lists a number of journalists, activists, and family members of opposition politicians in Venezuela who were imprisoned after last year's election.
"The only reason they are imprisoned is because they opposed you and your electoral fraud," writes Bukele.
"But I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100 percent of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and handover of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold."
Venezuela: "Cynical"
Among the names on Nayib Bukele's list are, among others, the son-in-law of the former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, the mother of opposition leader María Corina Machado, and what he claims are 50 imprisoned citizens from different countries around the world.
Venezuela's Attorney General Tarek Wiliam Saab rejects the proposal and calls Bukele's statements "cynical".
"The treatment of Venezuelans in the USA and El Salvador constitutes a serious violation of international law on human rights and a crime against humanity," he says in a statement.
Locked up in giant prison
El Salvador has been criticized for accepting Venezuelans and Salvadorans deported by the Trump administration in the USA, following allegations that they were gang members. In El Salvador, they have since been locked up in the notorious giant prison CECOT.
"I demand an immediate full list with identification of all prisoners and their legal status, as well as proof that they are alive and a medical report for each one," says Tarek William Saab about the prisoners, whom he refers to as "hostages".
