El Salvador's Dark Secret: Venezuelans' Ordeal in Detention

A Dark Chapter in US-El Salvador Relations

The Cecot Detention Center: A Nightmare Unveiled

Over 250 Venezuelans, sent to El Salvador from the US, endured brutal treatment in a detention center known as Cecot. The conditions were deplorable:

• Beatings and starvation
• Sexual assault
• Secretive imprisonment
• Inadequate food and medical care

US Government's Involvement

The US government, under the Trump administration, was aware of these conditions but sent the Venezuelans to El Salvador anyway. The US even paid El Salvador $4.7 million to keep these individuals detained.

The Report: A Testimony of Horror

A damning report by Human Rights Watch and Cristosal revealed the atrocities:

• Interviews with over 200 detainees
• Beatings for minor infractions (e.g., talking loudly, asking for medical help)
• Sexual abuse, often unreported due to shame
• Final release in July 2023, part of a deal with Venezuela's government

A Broader Crisis

This is not an isolated incident. In the last three years:

• 90,000 people detained and tortured in El Salvador
• At least 420 deaths linked to detention
• Possible crimes against humanity by El Salvador's government
• US complicity through deportations to these prisons