President Bukele’s proposal includes imprisoning US criminals in El Salvador’s largest prison for a fee.
Published On 4 Feb 2025
El Salvador’s president has proposed jailing convicts from the United States in his country, an “unprecedented” offer praised by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Nayib Bukele made the offer while hosting Rubio at his Lake Coatepeque residence, outside San Salvador, on Monday.
Bukele said El Salvador is ready to imprison the convicted Americans for payment in a prison he opened a year ago that is the largest in Latin America.
“We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system,” Bukele wrote on X. “The fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”
We have offered the United States of America the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system.
We are willing to take in only convicted criminals (including convicted U.S. citizens) into our mega-prison (CECOT) in exchange for a fee.
The fee would be relatively low for… pic.twitter.com/HTNwtp35Aq
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) February 4, 2025
Following the three-hour meeting, Rubio told reporters that Bukele “agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world”.
“He has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those with US citizenship and legal residency. No country’s ever made an offer of friendship such as this. We are profoundly grateful.”
The US State Department describes El Salvador’s overcrowded prisons as “harsh and dangerous”. The department’s website, in the information on El Salvador, says “in many facilities, provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, temperature control, and lighting are inade