WASHINGTON − Secretary of State Marco Rubio said 10 Americans detained in Venezuela have been released, exchanged for Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, in a July 18 post on X, said those freed in Venezuela were en route to El Salvador from where they would continue “their journey home.”

“Today, thanks to President Trump’s leadership and commitment to the American people, the United States welcomes home ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela,” Rubio said in a statement. “Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world.”

“I want to thank my team at the @StateDep & especially President @nayibbukele for helping secure an agreement for the release of all of our American detainees, plus the release of Venezuelan political prisoners,” Rubio said in a post on X.

Rubio later said the Trump administration “continues to support the restoration of democracy in Venezuela. The regime’s use of unjust detention as a tool of political repression must end.”

Contributing: Reuters

Venezuela Frees 10 Americans in Migrant Exchange Deal \ Newslooks \ Washington DC \ Mary Sidiqi \ Evening Edition \ Venezuela released 10 detained Americans in a negotiated exchange involving deported Venezuelan migrants held in El Salvador. The Trump administration agreed to pay $6 million to house the migrants in a Salvadoran mega-prison. The deal boosts Maduro’s political image and aids Trump’s goal of freeing Americans jailed overseas.

Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello welcomes children of Venezuelan migrants, whose parents were deported separately from the United States, at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, Friday, July 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)

Quick Looks

10 Americans detained in Venezuela freed as part of a swap.

El Salvador to return 300 Venezuelan migrants held in CECOT prison.

U.S. paid $6 million to facilitate migrant detention arrangement.

Trump invoked an 18th-century law to expedite deportations.

Venezuela used the detentions to rally support and condemn U.S. actions.

Migrants’ return strengthens Maduro’s domestic position amid disputed election.

Detainees were linked to alleged destabilization plots by Maduro’s regime.

U.S. and allies still do not recognize Maduro’s reelection claim.

Prior releases in May and earlier were also brokered by Trump’s envoy.

Lawyers had little access to prisoners; movement kept secret until flight.

Deep Look

In a remarkable three-way diplomatic maneuver, Venezuela released 10 imprisoned Americans on Friday in exchange for the return of roughly 300 Venezuelan migrants who had been detained for months in El Salvador. The deal represents a rare, high-stakes geopolitical agreement brokered under President Donald Trump’s current administration—combining elements of diplomacy, immigration enforcement, and international human rights controversy.

The migrant-for-prisoner swap underscores Venezuela’s ongoing efforts to reposition itself diplomatically, even as much of the international community refuses to recognize President Nicolás Maduro’s disputed claim to reelection. At the same time, the agreement supports Trump’s political agenda of bringing home jailed Americans while advancing his broader immigration crackdown, particularly on individuals affiliated with criminal organizations like the Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan gang accused of spreading violence across Latin America and the U.S.

A Deal with Layers of Politics and Consequences

The exchange involved Venezuelan migrants who had been deported by the U.S. earlier this year and held in El Salvador’s infamous Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT). CECOT, a mega-prison built under the leadership of Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, was initially designed to house alleged gang members as part of Bukele’s sweeping anti-gang campaign. The prison has drawn widespread condemnation from human rights organizations for inhumane conditions, with reports of overcrowding, limited access to legal representation, and systemic abuse. Videos released by Bukele’s government depict tattooed prisoners stacked in massive holding cells, used as propaganda to demonstrate the administration’s tough stance on crime.

In this case, however, CECOT became the site of a diplomatic flashpoint. The U.S., under Trump, agreed to pay El Salvador $6 million to detain the migrants. That decision was legally justified through the invocation of an obscure 18th-century wartime law, rarely used in modern politics, which permits swift deportation and military-style removal during national emergencies. The controversial move provoked fierce backlash from civil liberties groups and international watchdogs.

The 300 migrants had languished in the prison under harsh conditions for months before being released as part of the exchange. Venezuela leveraged their detention for months as a diplomatic cudgel, with Maduro condemning the treatment of its citizens abroad. Despite being accused of rampant human rights abuses at home, Maduro seized the opportunity to redirect criticism and score political points. He framed the treatment of the migrants in El Salvador as evidence of U.S. hypocrisy and used it to solidify support within his base.

Trump’s Diplomatic Scorecard

For President Trump, the release of 10 American detainees is a major foreign policy achievement. The prisoners were among dozens arrested in Venezuela throughout late 2024 and early 2025, amid widespread unrest following Maduro’s contested reelection. While Trump and most Western nations have rejected Maduro’s claim to victory—citing opposition-led data that shows challenger Edmundo González won by a landslide—Trump’s administration has continued to engage pragmatically with the regime.

The American detainees released were accused by the Venezuelan government of plotting to destabilize the country, and many were swept up in a broader campaign targeting activists, journalists, union leaders, and dissidents. Human rights groups estimate that more than 2,000 people have been arrested since the July 2024 election, primarily young, low-income men.

Friday’s release is the latest in a string of quiet but consequential prisoner deals negotiated by Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell. Earlier in the year, Grenell successfully secured the release of a U.S. Air Force veteran, Scott St. Clair, who had traveled to Venezuela seeking treatment for PTSD and was arrested in early 2025. Another diplomatic breakthrough came in February when six wrongfully detained Americans were freed following a private meeting between Grenell and Maduro at the Miraflores presidential palace.

Grenell reportedly used that meeting to propose a larger exchange framework, including the eventual repatriation of deported Venezuelan migrants held in El Salvador. Though no details of the negotiations were made public at the time, the seeds of Friday’s deal were sown during those early discussions.

The Migrants’ Ordeal and Legal Limbo

The Venezuelan migrants detained in El Salvador were largely in legal limbo. Most had been deported from the U.S. under the premise that they were affiliated with the Tren de Aragua, though formal charges were never made public. Lawyers and advocacy groups reported having little to no access to the migrants, and many families lost contact with their loved ones shortly after deportation.

The migrants’ return to Venezuela offers Maduro a domestic morale boost. It allows him to position himself as a protector of Venezuelan citizens abroad and distract from mounting internal pressure. Critics argue that despite Maduro’s claims of concern, many of the returnees are likely to face state surveillance or detention upon reentry—particularly if they are viewed as politically disloyal or as having fled during times of crisis.

International legal experts say the case sets a dangerous precedent. By detaining migrants without due process and using them as bargaining chips in geopolitical negotiations, all three governments involved risk violating international human rights agreements, including those guaranteeing protection against arbitrary detention and refoulement (return to danger).

An Exchange Amid Ongoing Power Disputes

The broader political landscape remains tense. Maduro, despite controlling the military and state apparatus, is seen by much of the international community as an illegitimate leader following the disputed 2024 vote. His challenger, Edmundo González, is in exile in Spain after threats of imprisonment, and protests across Venezuela have been met with a heavy crackdown.

Still, the exchange proves that Maduro retains significant influence and international leverage. While the U.S. officially refuses to recognize his government, the Trump administration’s engagement reflects a willingness to negotiate when American lives are at stake. Maduro, aware of this dynamic, continues to use American detainees as diplomatic leverage—knowing that their release yields political capital both at home and abroad.

The geopolitical dance also places President Nayib Bukele in a strategic role. By acting as a detention partner for the U.S. and engaging in complex international arrangements, Bukele has positioned El Salvador as a key player in regional migration policy—though his use of mass incarceration remains widely condemned.

The Road Ahead

Though the 10 Americans are now free, and the migrants are being returned to Venezuela, questions remain about what happens next. Will Maduro attempt more swaps? Will Trump pursue further deals with leaders the U.S. refuses to recognize? And will those still detained—both in Venezuela and across U.S. detention networks—be caught in the crosshairs of a broader geopolitical game?

For now, the latest exchange is being hailed by each leader as a victory: Maduro as a protector of his people, Bukele as a regional power broker, and Trump as the president who brings Americans home.

But for the migrants, detainees, and human rights defenders watching from the sidelines, the outcome is more complicated. The cost of diplomacy, in this case, was measured in months of suffering behind prison walls.

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Venezuela Frees 10 Venezuela Frees 10 Venezuela Frees 10

Venezuelan detainees are shown being sent home in a prison exchange for Americans held in Venezuela, according to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, at El Salvador International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on July 18, 2025. El Salvador… Purchase Licensing Rights , opens new tab

Item 1 of 8 Venezuelan detainees are shown being sent home in a prison exchange for Americans held in Venezuela, according to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, at El Salvador International Airport, in San Luis Talpa, El Salvador, in this handout picture obtained by Reuters on July 18, 2025. El Salvador Government/Handout via REUTERS

Summary El Salvador sends Venezuelan detainees home

Rubio says 10 Americans freed in Venezuela

Critics highlight human rights concerns in both El Salvador and Venezuela

WASHINGTON/CARACAS, July 18 (Reuters) – El Salvador is sending home Venezuelans detained in the country in a prisoner exchange for Americans held in Venezuela, officials from all three countries said on Friday.

In a post on X, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said those freed in Venezuela were en route to El Salvador from where they would continue “their journey home,” while U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed the release of “ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela.” He thanked Bukele for his help in securing the agreement.

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Venezuela’s government confirmed that 252 Venezuelans held in El Salvador had been freed.

Reuters reported earlier on Friday that the prison swap was happening.

The Venezuelans were sent to El Salvador from the United States in March after U.S. President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to swiftly deport alleged members of the Tren de Aragua gang without going through normal immigration procedures.

The Alien Enemies Act is best known for being used to intern and deport people of Japanese, German and Italian descent during World War Two, and Democrats said Trump’s use of it resurrected a dark era.

In El Salvador the Venezuelans were held in the notorious CECOT maximum security prison. The deportations drew fierce criticism from human rights groups and a legal battle with the Trump administration over allegations that due process was not followed.

Family members of many of the Venezuelans and their lawyers deny they had gang ties, and say they were not given a chance to contest the Trump administration’s allegations in court.

“I can’t believe it,” said Angie Rios, the U.S. citizen wife of Venezuelan CECOT detainee Jesus Rios after seeing Bukele’s X post about the release. “I have chills all over my body.”

POLITICAL PRISONERS

A photo, shared by the shuttered U.S. embassy in Caracas on X, showed 10 men dressed in what appeared to be prison uniforms, waving American flags alongside U.S. Charge d’Affaires John McNamara, who is based in Bogota. A press representative said the photo was taken in Caracas.

Senior U.S. officials also said 80 political prisoners in Venezuela would be freed, although the Venezuelan government referred only to “alternative” detention measures in its statement.

Separately, Venezuela hailed the return of seven migrant children who had been separated from their parents in the United States. The children were among more than 200 Venezuelans who returned on a regular deportation flight.

Venezuela’s government has always decried the detention of its citizens as a violation of human rights and international law. But the government’s critics say the country holds activists and opposition figures in similar conditions in Venezuela.

Trump’s use of the Alien Enemies Act kicked off a major legal standoff in the U.S. that tested the balance of power between the president and the judiciary, a co-equal branch of government to the executive.

Much of the legal battle focused on whether the Trump administration had violated a court order by declining to turn around the planes carrying the Venezuelans to El Salvador, despite a judge’s directive to halt the deportations.

The Supreme Court in May said the Trump administration must give “constitutionally adequate notice” before using the Alien Enemies Act to bypass standard immigration processes.

The high court also ruled that people subjected to the law are entitled to habeas petitions to request their release, limiting its application.

Reporting by Ted Hesson and Aram Roston in Washington; Additional reporting by Vivian Sequera in Caracas, Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota, Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Sarah Kinosian in Mexico City; Writing by Stephen Eisenhammer; Editing by Don Durfee, Rod Nickel and Rosalba O’Brien

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El Salvador has sent home 252 Venezuelans from its notorious Cecot jail in a prisoner swap for 10 US citizens.

Nayib Bukele, the country’s president, said in a post on X that those freed in Venezuela were en route to El Salvador from where they would continue “their journey home”.

“Today, we have handed over all the Venezuelan nationals detained in our country, accused of being part of the criminal organisation Tren de Aragua (TDA). Many of them face multiple charges of murder, robbery, rape, and other serious crimes.

“As was offered to the Venezuelan regime back in April, we carried out this exchange in return for a considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners, people that regime had kept in its prisons for years, as well as all the American citizens it was holding as hostages,” he said.

Venezuela has freed 10 Americans in exchange for Venezuelans whom the United States had sent to a prison in El Salvador.

Members of the Salvadorian army stand guard at maximum security penitentiary CECOT on April 4, in Tecoluca, San Vicente, El Salvador. (Alex Peña | Getty Images)

BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Venezuela has freed 10 Americans in exchange for Venezuelans whom the United States had sent to a prison in El Salvador, the U.S. and Salvadoran governments said Friday.

In a statement, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, “the United States welcomes home ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela.”

“We also welcome the release of Venezuelan political prisoners and detainees that were also released from Venezuelan prisons,” the statement continued.

Earlier, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed the exchange in a message on X. He said his government handed over Venezuelans accused of being part of a gang in exchange for “a considerable number of Venezuelan political prisoners” as well as Americans.

He said the swap was the result of “months of negotiations with a tyrannical regime,” and added that U.S. officials had helped to arrange the deal.

Rubio reposted Bukele’s message, then Rubio wrote on X, “ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela are on their way to freedom.”

A list of names in the prisoner exchange has not been released.

A State Department official told NPR that the people freed from Venezuela included U.S. citizens and permanent residents who were designated as “wrongfully detained” less than a year ago, after Venezuelan elections. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

An X account belonging to the hostage affairs office at the State Department posted a photo of the men it said were released from detention in Venezuela on a plane.

U.S. deports hundreds of Venezuelans to El Salvador, despite court order It was not clear if the deportations happened before a D.C. federal judge ordered the administration to stop using wartime powers to deport anyone immediately, and turn around any planes in the air.

In March, the Trump administration sent about 250 Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador, whose government was paid to house them in a maximum security prison, known as CECOT.

The United States accused many of the men of being gang members and deported them under the Alien Enemies Act, which had not been invoked since World War II.

Lawyers for the Venezuelan deportees argue their transfer to El Salvador was illegal. Dozens of them were in the middle of asylum cases, and had been held in U.S. detention centers for months.

On Friday, Bukele published a video of men in handcuffs he said were being handed over to Venezuela, as they boarded a plane taking them to the South American country.

The prisoner swap was kept secret until Friday and some of the relatives of the Venezuelan migrants say they found out about it on social media.

Gabriela Mora, whose husband Carlos Uzcategui was one of the men sent by the U.S. to El Salvador, tells NPR she was at an event at her daughter’s school when she learned about the news.

Tren de Aragua — all you need to know about the Venezuelan gang The Trump administration has invoked a 227-year-old law, the Alien Enemies Act, to target Tren de Aragua, a gang with its roots in the prisons of Venezuela. Who are they and how wide is their reach?

“This makes us very happy” she says. “We have waited for this day for too long.”

Uzcategui, a coal miner from Venezuela’s Tachira state, entered the U.S. in December after he received an appointment, through the U.S. government’s CBP One app, to cross the U.S. border and make his case for asylum.

He was then held in a detention center in Texas. U.S. immigration officials have alleged that tattoos of crowns and stars on his chest were linked to the Tren de Aragua gang. Uzcategui’s family says he got the tattoos 15 years ago, before the gang had even been established.

“He is not a gang member,” Mora said in an interview in May. “Just a hard working man who wants to provide for his family.”

This is a developing story that may be updated.

NPR’s Michele Kelemen contributed reporting from Washington, D.C.