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#ElSalvador

14 posts6 participants1 post today
Replied to Nonilex

@Nonilex The “funny” thing about #State giving #ElSalvador the safest rating (“level 1”) is that the detailed description reads much more like it does for dangerous countries (probably level 2-3).

For reference, Canada is level 1, many “safe” countries in the EU and Central America are level 2, Nicaragua is level 3, and North Korea, Syria, and Sudan are level 4 “do not travel.”

travel.state.gov/content/trave (expand the “safety and security” section)

travel.state.govEl Salvador International Travel InformationEl Salvador international travel information and Travel Advisory
Continued thread

In recent months, #Bukele’s government has cracked down further on #CivilLiberties, targeting civil society groups, arresting critics & pushing some prominent journalists to flee.

And while the #EU condemned a new #law giving his govt broad powers to silence dissidents, the US govt stayed quiet.

Instead, the #State Dept certified in April that #ElSalvador was protecting #FreedomOfThePress & strengthening the rule of law.

Continued thread

In April, #Trump’s #State Dept upgraded #ElSalvador’s travel advisory to its highest rating, citing a “drop in violent crimes & murders.”

While #crime has improved, El Salvador jumped to the #UnitedStates’ safest level, ahead of countries like France or Spain, whose rates of violent crime are the same or lower.

The new rating reflects a dramatic turnaround for a country that once had a soaring homicide rate & “significant #HumanRights issues,” acc/to the State Dept in 2023.

Continued thread

An investigation by NYT found the #Trump admin not only paid #Bukele’s govt ~$5M to incarcerate >200 Venezuelan deportees, but added a bonus at his request: the return to #ElSalvador of several top #MS13 leaders in #US custody, some thought to have knowledge of Bukele’s ties to the gang.
US authorities have found substantial evidence of secret negotiations between Bukele’s govt & MS13 leaders, & some experts say Bukele may want to bury that evidence. He has denied having any pact with the gang….

How #ElSalvador Is Reaping Rewards From #Trump #Deportations

In exchange for jailing more than 200 deportees, El Salvador’s president, Nayib #Bukele, has become a favorite of the Trump admin.

While the exact terms of the agreement have not been made public, leaders around the world may be watching, experts & #immigration lawyers say, especially as the Trump admin searches for countries willing to take expelled migrants of other nationalities.

#law #rendition
nytimes.com/2025/07/10/world/a

President Donald Trump and President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador holding a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office in April.
The New York Times · How El Salvador Is Reaping Rewards From Trump’s Deportation AgendaBy Annie Correal
Continued thread

The messages show that in the hours after #Boasberg’s ruling, #ErezReuveni repeatedly relayed to colleagues that the #immigrants covered by the judge’s order should not be turned over to #ElSalvador. And he later expressed concern that they seemed to have been handed over anyway.

In one of the newly-disclosed emails, the acting head of #DOJ’s Civil Division, Yaakov Roth, told Reuveni & other ofcls that the men were unloaded based on #legal advice given by #EmilBove.

Continued thread

…Many of the messages pertain to an extraordinary showdown on March 15, when #ImmigrantRights lawyers persuaded a federal judge in Washington, James #Boasberg, to order the admin to halt an in-progress #deportation [#rendition] of 130 #Venezuelans to #ElSalvador. Boasberg ordered that planes containing the men, whom #Trump deemed “alien enemies” under a wartime #law, be turned around, if necessary, & in any event that the men not be handed over to the Salvadoran govt.

Continued thread

The newly-released messages reinforce claims by #whistleblower #ErezReuveni that #EmilBove played a key role in a decision by #Trump admin #immigration ofcls to turn scores of #Venezuelan immigrants over to #ElSalvador despite a US judge’s #CourtOrder not to do so.

The messages show increasing alarm among #DOJ lawyers that the admin had in fact defied court orders & that some ofcls…could face #sanctions for misleading courts.