These are the testimonies of Venezuelan asylum seekers who were deported by the United States and imprisoned in El Salvador’s CECOT mega-prison. They were not criminals. They had no charges, no trials, and no sentences. They were locked in a prison built for terror, not justice.
Inside CECOT, they were stripped of basic human rights. They were starved. They were denied mattresses, bedsheets, clothing, and drinking water. They slept directly on metal cots. They were forced to drink the same water they bathed in.
When they attempted a hunger strike to demand that someone in power listen to their concerns about abuse, they were met with violence. Guards fired rubber bullets. They were hit with pellets. Some were threatened with shotguns.
Later, when the Red Cross came to examine their injuries, they were ordered to lie. They were told to say they had fallen off their cots. The Red Cross left, and nothing changed. According to those who lived through it, the visit felt like theater. A performance for the outside world.
This is what the United States did with its deportation power. It sent men fleeing persecution into a foreign military-run prison where they were silenced, brutalized, and buried alive behind concrete and steel.
Listen to them. Believe them. This is not just El Salvador’s shame. This is ours too. Paid for by the U.S. taxpayer.
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