The US deports suspected Venezuelan gang members to El Salvador’s mega-prison. Bukele calls it a win. Trump defies a court order. But is this the right move?
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00:00These are suspected gang members of a Venezuelan gang called Tren de Aragua
00:14deported from the US to El Salvador. The footage was shared by El Salvador
00:19President Nayib Bukele on X. Bukele is happy.
00:23The Trump administration is said to be paying about $6 million to El Salvador for hosting
00:32the Tren de Aragua members for a year. Bukele calls it a very low fee for the US
00:37but a high one for us. El Salvador, once one of the most dangerous
00:41places on earth where gangs rule the streets. In came President Nayib Bukele in 2019.
00:47His war on gangs turned the country into a maximum security state.
00:50El Salvador was turned from the most dangerous place in the world to the safest in the western
00:55hemisphere. At the heart of this claim by President Bukele,
00:59Secord, Terrorism Confinement Center, a mega prison built to hold the worst of the worst.
01:04No escape, no mercy, no rights, inmates are shaved bald, denied visitors, phone calls
01:10or personal items. Secord's latest guests from the US were
01:13tortured as well. Meanwhile for Trump, this is more than an
01:16immigration crackdown. He is targeting Tren de Aragua using the
01:19Alien Enemies Act to deport them without trial. A US judge halted these deportations
01:24but they continued anyway. The message is clear, the US does not want
01:28them and in El Salvador, there's only one place for them, Secord.
01:32But why El Salvador and not Venezuela itself? Because Bukele and Venezuelan President Nicolas
01:36Maduro are bitter rivals. In 2019, Bukele cut ties with Venezuela calling
01:41Maduro's government illegitimate. Maduro's relations with Washington are not
01:45great either. So for now, Bukele gets what he wants, a
01:48tougher stance on gangs and a closer alliance with Trump.
01:51Trump gets a political win as well, showing his base that he's cracking down on criminal
01:55migrants. Do you think Trump did the right thing by
01:57deporting these gangsters out of the US? Let us know in the comments.
02:00I'm Manish Adhikari, thank you for watching. First things first.