El Salvador’s president on Sunday proposed repatriating Venezuelan detainees sent to his country from the United States in exchange for the release of prisoners by Venezuela, including key figures in the Venezuelan opposition.

“I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that includes the repatriation of 100% of the 252 Venezuelans who were deported, in exchange for the release and surrender of an identical number (252) of the thousands of political prisoners you hold,” President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador wrote in an X post directed at President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela.

Among the political prisoners in Venezuela named in Bukele’s post were several people detained by the Maduro government in a crackdown last year.

He also said that as part of the swap, he would require Maduro to release “nearly 50 detained citizens of other nationalities,” including Americans.

As of last month, at least 68 foreign passport holders were wrongfully imprisoned in Venezuela, according to a Venezuelan watchdog group, Foro Penal, more than Maduro has ever held.

— The New York Times