The US has despatched tons of of principally Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador to be held with out trial in a controversial mega-prison recognized for its harsh situations. The ability has drawn reward from hardline law-and-order politicians at house and overseas and ire from human rights organizations.
Right here’s what we all know in regards to the mega-prison known as Cecot, an acronym for Terrorism Confinement Centre in Spanish.
What’s the Cecot jail?
In February 2023, El Salvador opened what it claims is Latin America’s largest jail with capability for 40,000 inmates. The 23-hectare jail is remoted in a rural area 70 km east of capital San Salvador.
Bukele in November mentioned the jail value $115m to develop and equip.
This jail is a part of Bukele’s extremely common hardline safety coverage which has resulted in a pointy drop in homicides.
Calling himself the world’s “coolest dictator,” Bukele, 43, declared a state of emergency in March 2022 that continues to be in impact and has entailed the arrest of greater than 84,000 individuals.
This contains alleged members of El Salvador’s Mara Salvatrucha gan, also referred to as MS-13, and its rival, Barrio 18.
Authorities stories put the jail inhabitants at 14,500 inmates in August 2024, however a authorities spokesperson mentioned in March 2025 that the statistic was outdated. A present determine was not disclosed safety causes, the spokesperson mentioned.
Why are migrants held on the jail?
Throughout a go to from the US secretary of state, Marco Rubio, in February, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele supplied to incarcerate criminals deported from the US within the mega-prison.
The Trump administration deported 261 individuals to El Salvador on 15 March. For 137 of them, the US authorities justified the transfer underneath the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, saying the lads have been members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua however offering few particulars about their instances.
A US official mentioned in a court docket submitting that “many” of these 137 has no US convictions however nonetheless posed a critical menace.
These individuals together with 101 extra Venezuelans have been despatched to Cecot for a one-year time period that may be renewed, Bukele mentioned. The US authorities paid El Salvador about $6m to obtain the deportees, the White Home mentioned.
The remaining 23 deportees have been Salvadoran gang members, the White Home mentioned.
What’s it like within the jail?
Photos taken inside the power typically present prisoners packed tightly along with their heads shaved and sporting solely shorts.
The jail has no out of doors leisure house and no household visits are allowed.
A report from the Inter-American Fee on Human Rights in September 2024 expressed issues about overcrowding within the Cecot, citing a research that discovered inmates had a median 0.60 sq. metres (6.45 sq. toes) of house, beneath worldwide requirements.
Civil society organisations and advocates have reported over 6,000alleged human rights violations within the nation for the reason that state of emergency was declared in 2022, together with arbitrary detentions, torture and 366 deaths in state custody. The federal government denies the allegations.
Why is the jail controversial?
Cecot has attracted international consideration, each constructive and unfavorable. Argentine safety minister Patricia Bullrich praised the power in a June 2024 social media put up that mentioned: “That is the best way. Powerful on criminals.”
A US Republican get together delegation from the Home of Representatives, led by then-Consultant Matt Gaetz, visited the jail a month later.
YouTube personalities have had hundreds of thousands of views for his or her jail go to movies that highlighted harsh situations within the jail.
Many human rights organisations have criticised El Salvador’s prisons and particularly Cecot. Teams have reported alleged human rights violations like torture, inmate deaths and mass trials.
Bukele mentioned in August that “gang members will spend their total lives in jail.” Justice minister Gustavo Villatoro vowed in 2023 that officers “will be sure that none of those that enter the Cecot ever depart on foot.”
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