Jesús Daniel Romero from the Miami Strategic Intelligence Institute for FinGurú
In a complex multilateral agreement with broad implications, the governments of the United States, El Salvador, and Venezuela completed a high-profile prisoner exchange on July 18, 2025. Venezuela released the last ten American citizens in its custody, including a former U.S. Air Force aviator whose deteriorating health expedited his release (Reuters, 2025a; AP News, 2025). This followed earlier releases in 2025, including two oil executives and a bi-national academic, indicating a coordinated diplomatic effort.
In exchange, El Salvador transferred over 250 Venezuelan citizens deported from the U.S. and detained in the CECOT prison. Many were accused of having links to the Tren de Aragua gang, but did not have formal convictions; their detention lacked due process (Reuters, 2025b; Politico, 2025). The repatriation was led by President Nayib Bukele and supervised by U.S. and international observers.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who led the negotiations on behalf of the U.S., publicly thanked Bukele for his pivotal role. “Our citizens are free because regional partners acted,” Rubio stated (Reuters, 2025a). Medical and legal teams accompanied the exchange on the ground to ensure an orderly process.
Although publicly framed as a humanitarian advance, the agreement was accompanied by a broader shift in U.S. policy. The Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) of the Department of the Treasury issued a special license to export liquefied petroleum gas to Venezuela. While justified as a humanitarian measure, it was widely interpreted as a strategic concession (Reuters, 2025b).
At the same time, economic pressure on Caracas increased. Earlier in the year, Rubio ordered the termination of operating licenses for U.S. oil companies in Venezuela, reversing relief measures granted during the Biden administration (Reuters, 2025c). The only exception has been the export license for liquefied gas tied to the humanitarian agreement.
With the Venezuelan detainees under the custody of Maduro's regime, U.S. jurisdiction over future legal actions is essentially nullified. The Trump administration may argue that it has lost all legal capacity to act, thus limiting future lawsuits, a stance likely to be used in response to any criticism (Reuters, 2025b).
While much attention has focused on the Trump administration's secret negotiations with the Venezuelan regime, this episode reflects a broader trend. High-ranking officials from the Biden administration also held discreet dialogues in 2023 and 2024, aiming to secure the release of detainees, reduce tensions, and explore political reforms. What distinguishes this moment is its scale, transparency, and regional coordination.
The exchange highlights El Salvador's emerging role as a geopolitical intermediary. Bukele's government demonstrated its ability to balance relations with Washington and Caracas, enhancing its influence on regional issues such as migration and organized crime.
Legal analysts continue to assess the use of the 1798 Alien Enemies Act, which allowed deportations without due process. With the repatriation of the deported under a diplomatic agreement, the future use of similar tools could face greater legal and political scrutiny (Washington Post, 2025).
Ultimately, the exchange illustrates the growing role of tactical diplomacy over direct confrontation. The U.S. employed sanctions, energy pressure, and regional alliances to resolve a politically delicate situation, achieving results where isolation had failed.
Whether this episode becomes a model or an exception, it underscores the fragility of legal frameworks governing U.S. relations with authoritarian states. This time, it was negotiation—and not confrontation—that offered a solution after years of stalemate.
References
AP News. (2025, July 19). Venezuela releases 10 imprisoned Americans in agreement including migrants deported by the U.S. https://apnews.com/article/prisoner-swap-venezuela-united-states-el-salvador-a0c3070355fbdc31f028a16096c5655c
Politico. (2025, July 18). Trump administration: Maduro will return deportees if U.S. court orders it. https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/18/alien-enemies-act-deportations-venezuela-00464257
Reuters. (2025a, July 19). Rubio states that 10 Americans detained in Venezuela have been released. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/rubio-says-10-americans-detained-venezuela-have-been-released-2025-07-18/
Reuters. (2025b, July 19). El Salvador repatriates detained Venezuelans in exchange for Americans. https://www.reuters.com/world/americas/el-salvador-sends-detained-venezuelans-home-swap-americans-2025-07-19/
Reuters. (2025c, May 22). Chevron's oil license in Venezuela will expire on May 27, Rubio says. https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/rubio-says-oil-license-venezuela-will-expire-may-27-2025-05-22/
Washington Post. (2025, July 18). Trump administration used 1798 law to deport Venezuelans to El Salvador. https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/07/18/trump-venezuela-el-salvador-cecot-prison/
Jesús Daniel Romero is a retired Commander of the U.S. Naval Intelligence. Co-founder and Senior Fellow at the Miami Strategic Intelligence Institute.
As a writer, he is the author of the Amazon bestseller "The Final Flight: The Queen of Air," and is putting the finishing touches on a trilogy of books about transnational crime in Latin America.
Columnist for the Diario Las Américas in Miami, Florida, USA, and a permanent consultant on his specialty topics for major media in the state of Florida, as well as Spanish and English language publications.
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