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Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello has said that based on the information he had gathered, none of the hundreds of Venezuelans deported from the US to a Salvadoran prison were members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang, Reuters reported.
“I believe with absolute responsibility that not a single one appears on the organisational chart of the now-extinct Tren de Aragua organisation, not a single one,” Cabello reportedly said on a podcast on Friday, while suggesting he had names of the deportees from US media as well as his own source.
Stressing that Tren de Aragua was effectively wiped out in 2023, he further asserted that the claims that it was still operational were part of a political narrative pushed by Venezuela’s opposition. “It is a lie, a massive lie, and we have the means to prove it,” Reuters quoted Cabello as saying. “Now if the United States refuses to recognise this reality, that’s their prerogative.”
The deportations, which have sparked controversy, were carried out by the Trump administration under a wartime law—the Alien Enemies Act of 1798. The White House justified the expulsions by labelling the Venezuelan gang, which the US has designated as a terrorist organisation, as a threat to national security.
The deported individuals were sent to El Salvador, where they are being held in a high-security anti-terrorism prison. Despite a swift judicial block against the deportation measure, over 200 Venezuelans were sent back to El Salvador, with 137 being removed under the wartime act.
Families and legal representatives have since voiced concerns about the welfare of those deported and have called for their return to Venezuela.
The Trump administration is facing a deadline of March 25 to respond to a court request for further details regarding the deportations.
