The Trump administration carried out a large prisoner swap with Venezuela, returning 250 Venezuelans who had been deported and held in El Salvador to their home country in exchange for 10 Americans detained in Venezuela. The Americans, including Wilbert Joseph Castaneda and Lucas Hunter, were classified as wrongfully held, and their families expressed joy over the reunions. Venezuela also released dozens of political prisoners as part of the agreement. The Venezuelans had been held in El Salvador’s CECOT prison after the U.S. deported them in March of 2025 under a wartime authority known as the Alien Enemies Act. Advocates and attorneys had pushed back on their classification as gang members, noting many had no criminal records.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele led the negotiations, with assistance from the U.S. Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs. Bukele released a video showing handcuffed detainees boarding flights, and Venezuelan officials welcomed returnees at the Simón Bolívar International Airport. Families of those deported and detained celebrated their release and shared plans to reunite. Despite last-minute tension from the Maduro regime, both countries completed the swap. The agreement also involved coordination with Global Reach, an advocacy group that had supported families of Americans detained in Venezuela.
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Reference:
Diamond, Jeremy. “Trump Admin Completes Prisoner Swap with Venezuela, Americans Freed.” CNN, 18 July 2025, www.cnn.com/2025/07/18/politics/venezuela-us-prisoner-swap-trump.
