Venezuela’s government in a statement on Sunday rejected the use of Trump’s declaration of the law, characterizing it as evocative of “the darkest episodes in human history, from slavery to the horror of the Nazi concentration camps”.
Tren de Aragua originated in an infamously lawless prison in the central state of Aragua and accompanied an exodus of millions of Venezuelans, the overwhelming majority of whom were seeking better living conditions after their nation’s economy came undone last decade.
Trump seized on the gang during his campaign to paint misleading pictures of communities that he contended were “taken over” by what were actually a handful of lawbreakers.
The Trump administration has not identified the migrants deported, provided any evidence they are in fact members of Tren de Aragua or that they committed any crimes in the US. It did send two top members of the Salvadoran MS-13 gang to El Salvador who had been arrested in the US.
Video released by El Salvador’s government on Sunday showed men exiting planes into an airport tarmac lined by officers in riot gear. The men, who had their hands and ankles shackled, struggled to walk as officers pushed their heads down to have them bend down at the waist.
The video also showed the men being transported to prison in a large convoy of buses guarded by police and military vehicles and at least one helicopter. The men were shown kneeling on the ground as their heads were shaved before they changed into the prison’s all-white uniform, knee-length shorts, T-shirt, socks and rubber clogs, and were placed in cells.
The migrants were taken to the notorious CECOT facility, the centrepiece of Bukele’s push to pacify his once violence-wracked country through tough police measures and limits on basic rights.
