CECOT Accountability
In March 2025, the Trump administration illegally shipped Venezuelan men detained in the US to a maximum security anti-terrorism prison in El Salvador that has been at the center of serious allegations of human rights abuse.
The transfers were devoid of due process and in some cases, contrary to specific US Court orders. The Trump administration made a theater of their inability to retrieve the men, saying it was a diplomatic issue beyond the Court’s reach. Then, when convenient, magic presto, the men are released in July --- over 252 in exchange for 10 American's and Venezuelan political prisoners - revealing the entire episode as a kidnapping and hostage exchange.
There must be a deep process of accountability.
As US citizens, we have a duty and right to shine the light on this until full restitution is complete. This episode is a stain on us all as Americans - it was torture and outrageous human rights violation.
We have no idea if any of these men had serious criminal or gang affiliations —- but neither does the US Executive it seems. "Innocent until proven guilty" is not an optional privilege for US citizens alone - it is a fundamental human right.
Below, we highlight the voices of a few men themselves, as reported by NPR and BBC.
From Some of the Venezuelan Hostages Kidnaped to CECOT
Carlos Daniel Terán (19) - Recalling a prison wardens warning upon entering CECOT - "He told us we were never going to leave this place" ... And further "I thought this was going to be the last experience of my life," Terán told NPR from Caracas. "I thought I was going to die there." According to NPR, Terán's was picked up by ICE from his home in Texas in February. He had entered the U.S. legally through the Biden-era CBP One program and has no criminal record in the U.S. He denies gang affiliation. He has a past offense in Chile as a minor for gun possession and possessing or transporting small quantities of drugs.
Andres Morales told NPR that the beatings began as soon as the Venezuelans arrived at the prison. Guards told him he was "condemned for life."
Andry Hernandez (32) recounted how how guards routinely beat prisoners with batons in the hallway or a small, windowless cell known as "La Isla," or "The Island." On one instance he said that he was beaten by three guards wearing masks and forced to perform oral sex on one of the guards. "CECOT was hell on Earth." Further, "We were treated like bargaining chips ...I don't understand why Bukele had to offer his prisons, to kidnap migrants that had never set foot in his country."
Mervin Yamarte (29) says his tattoos led to him being mistaken in the US for a gang member and deported to El Salvador. "We lived through hell." Mr Yamarte said the guards forced inmates to eat "like animals", using their hands while sitting on the floor. He added that they were hit "frequently" and not given anything to clean themselves with. "The prison director told us that whoever entered [the prison] would never come out." He was one of four men from the same region of Venezuela who said they were arrested in Texas for alleged immigration offenses after mistakenly being identified as gang members because of their tattoos.
Andy Perozo (30) told BBC "Beatings were part of the daily routine." He said he was hit by a rubber bullet near his left eye during his time at Cecot. He alleged that the prison authorities would only feed and clothe the inmates well in the immediate run-up to visits by Red Cross delegates, and in order to "take photos" that would let the prison appear in a good light.
Hernández Herrera (23) said he suffered "torture" inside Cecot, adding that he was "shot at" with rubber bullets four times. "The beds were metal, I didn't know if it was better to sleep or stay awake," he said, adding, "we never saw a lawyer or a judge."
Mr Rincón (39), another hostage, told BBC he was the victim of abuse which he alleged started as soon as they arrived in El Salvador. "They beat us until we bled. We were hit as we were dragged off the plane, made to walk hunched over, tied up with up to five shackles."
From a Human Rights Group
Noah Bullock, the executive director of Cristosal, a Salvadoran human rights group said that the beatings and some of the other conditions described by the Venezuelan prisoners qualify as torture, and that by taking the Venezuelan prisoners to El Salvador, without notifying their lawyers, or their families, U.S. and Salvadorean authorities likely committed an act of forced disappearance. "These are people who never had a trial, who were never convicted of anything, and were sent to a third country to be put into a maximum security prison indefinitely." Bullock said. "Just on those grounds, you have clear due process violations."
Cristosal conducted background checks on 160 of the 252 Venezuelans sent to El Salvador and also interviewed their families. The organization said that less than 10% had criminal records.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, from official agency portrait
From a Callous US Administration
"Once again, the media is falling all over themselves to defend criminal illegal gang members," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin in an email to NPR. "We hear far too much about gang members and criminals' false sob stories and not enough about their victims."
If one tracks the DHS (Dept. of Homeland Security) outrages closely, Ms. McLaughlin’s quotes are mentioned frequently. Just another cog in the machine.
Sources:
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/18/nx-s1-5472623/venezuela-prisoner-exchange-el-salvador-us
https://www.npr.org/2025/07/18/nx-s1-5472623/venezuela-prisoner-exchange-el-salvador-us
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/czry5k52np2o
Article assembled by the editor of the Food and Farm Caucus of Kansas Dems. Thumbnail photo of prison walls used for this story were taken by Tim Hüfner on Unsplash