El Salvador President and Trump Ally Bukele Accused of Cutting Deals With MS-13 Gang Members Using U.S. Aid
Nayib Bukele has come to be known as the face fighting against gang violence and justice. However, a new ProPublica investigation reveals that image may be misleading.
Maria Villaroel Maria Villarroel / Published Jun 13 2025, 10:39 AM EDT
Nayib Bukele has come to be known as the face fighting against gang violence and justice. However, a new ProPublica investigation reveals that image may be misleading.
- click link for image of Bukele -
https://tinyurl.com/56evv57x
In the first months of the Trump administration, the U.S. president found a close ally in El Salvador leader Nayib Bukele, particularly by making a deal to quickly deport Venezuelan migrants believed to be Tren de Aragua gang members and house them in the country's mega-prison known as CECOT. But despite Bukele often making himself the face of the fight against gangs and violence, a new investigation reveals he may have cut a deal with the leaders of the MS-13 gang in the early years of his presidency.
In the first months of the Trump administration, the U.S. president found a close ally in El Salvador leader Nayib Bukele, particularly by making a deal to quickly deport Venezuelan migrants believed to be Tren de Aragua gang members and house them in the country's mega-prison known as CECOT. But despite Bukele often making himself the face of the fight against gangs and violence, a new investigation reveals he may have cut a deal with the leaders of the MS-13 gang in the early years of his presidency.
The bombshell investigation comes from ProPublica, which gathered information from a long-running U.S. investigation of MS-13 as an effort to dismantle the gang's leadership and later expanded to focus on whether the Bukele government cut a secret deal with the gang in the early years of his presidency.
According to ProPublica, Bukele's allies blocked extraditions of gang leaders whom U.S. agents viewed as potential witnesses to the negotiations and persecuted Salvadoran law enforcement officials who helped the task force.
The report from the U.S. government was led by Joint Task Force Vulcan, a multiagency law enforcement team created at Trump's request in 2019.
Further, the investigation suggests that the Bukele government may have diverted U.S. aid funds to the gang as part of the alleged deal to provide it with money and power in exchange for votes and reduced homicide rates. In 2021, agents drew up a request to review U.S. bank accounts held by Salvadoran political figures to look for evidence of money laundering related to the suspected diversion of U.S. funds.
More:
https://www.latintimes.com/el-salvador-president-trump-ally-bukele-accused-cutting-deals-ms-13-gang-members-using-us-aid-584958
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