Salvadoral President Nayib Bukele proposed on Monday, February 3, to receive prisoners detained in the United States in his country, an approach welcomed by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on site.
“We have proposed in the United States to relocate part of their prison system,” said the head of state, renowned for his firmness in his anti-crime, on X. “The price would be modest enough for the United States but would be significant for us and would allow us to finance our entire prison system,” he added.
According to Marco Rubio, the Salvadorian offer is unprecedented and is worth “including (for) American citizens and those with a residence permit”. “No country has ever made such a friendly offer,” said the head of American diplomacy after an interview in San Salvador with Nayib Bukele. “We are deeply grateful to him. I spoke to President Trump,” he added, citing in particular the Latin American gangs MS-13 of Salvador or Tren of Aragua from Venezuela, who also operate in the States United, and some of the members have nationality.
According to the New York Timesin 2019, the Salvador had signed a similar agreement, known as “third country safe”. It could not be implemented because of the pandemic of Cavid which occurred the same year. By referring to it on Monday, Nayid Bukele, re -elected with more than 80 % of the votes last year, notably thanks to his radical fight against crime, said that his new proposal was “more important and of a much wider scope than The agreements concluded in 2019 “.
Unprecedented decisions
The initiative is part of a context of hardening of measures on the part of the Trump administration, which has announced that it wanted to end the soil law, included in the American Constitution, and carry out massive expulsions of illegal migrants.
Donald Trump has notably deleted a text from the Biden administration offering some 600,000 Venezuelans protection against expulsions, but has not yet touched the status of 232,000 Salvadourians potentially expensive. He also announced that he wanted to transfer 30,000 illegal immigrants to the prison erected in the US military base in Guantanamo, Cuba.
On the sidelines of the visit of Marco Rubio, who made a mini-tour in Central America, the United States and the Salvador have also announced that they have signed an agreement in the field of civilian nuclear energy, which Nayid Bukele wishes to develop. The leader welcomed cooperation with the United States, “our most important partner, with whom we must further strengthen our relationships”. “We are not hiding our sympathy” for Donald Trump, added the Salvadoral President, believing that “this is the right time to strengthen the diplomatic relationship”.