Venezuelan men deported by the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador without due process have described their treatment as “hell” and like a “horror movie” after being repatriated. A total of 252 Venezuelan nationals were returned home in a deal between the US and Venezuelan governments, with many reuniting with family after months of alleged abuse.
Carlos Uzcátegui, 33, hugged his sobbing wife and stepdaughter in western Venezuela after a year away, including four months in the El Salvador prison. The US had accused the men, on sometimes flimsy evidence, of being members of the Tren de Aragua gang living illegally in the US. “Every day, I woke up looking at the bars, wishing I wasn’t there,” Uzcátegui said. “They beat us, they kicked us. I even have quite a few bruises on my stomach.”
The migrants were freed last Friday in a prisoner swap. Arturo Suárez, whose reggaeton songs surfaced on social media after his deportation, arrived at his family’s home in Caracas on Tuesday. “It is hell. We met a lot of innocent people,” he told reporters. Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro has said many were physically and psychologically tortured, airing videos of men describing rape, beatings, and pellet-gun wounds.
The 252 men were sent to El Salvador on 16 March after the Trump administration paid $6m to house them in a mega-prison where human rights groups have documented hundreds of deaths and torture cases. Venezuela’s attorney general has opened an investigation against El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele based on the allegations. The Associated Press could not verify the abuse claims.
Uzcátegui’s wife, Gabriela Mora, said he migrated after his coalmine halved his pay and their street food shop closed in 2023. He crossed the Darién Gap and reached Mexico City, working at a seafood stall until granted an asylum appointment in December. Upon entering the US, he was detained and deported to El Salvador.
