Under the administration of President Nayib Bukele, the Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT) was officially opened in 2023 as part of a strategy to address gang violence.
This facility in Tecoluca houses the most dangerous criminals in the country and is considered one of the safest prisons globally, with a capacity for 40,000 inmates.
The compound is heavily secured with 19 watchtowers, and detainees are under constant surveillance by a security team.
In a bid to remove gang members, including those from the United States, the Trump administration apprehended 250 Venezuelan men, among them Arturo Suarez.
However, his family asserts that the 34-year-old has never been convicted of any crime in the four countries where he has lived.
In March, immigration officials took Suarez into custody while he was in North Carolina shooting a music video.
Authorities cited Suarez’s 33 tattoos as evidence of his affiliation with the Tren de Aragua gang.
After more than five months, Suarez was released in a prisoner exchange involving ten U.S. citizens and permanent residents who had been incarcerated in Venezuela.
‘We were subjected to constant beatings,’ he recounted to Sky News. ‘We endured physical, verbal, and psychological abuse.’
‘Not a single day went by without the wardens reminding us that the only way we would leave that place was in a coffin. In fact, the first words spoken by the prison chief after the initial beating were, ‘welcome to hell.’
‘We were crammed 19 individuals into a single cell,’ he stated, adding that ‘if we raised our voices, they would confiscate our mattresses; if they caught us bathing more than once a day, they would take our mattresses away.’
‘The punishment was harsh. It involved beatings and humiliations, and they would withhold our food,’ he detailed.
His statement was, ‘that’s your issue; it’s not my concern if you choose to exercise.’ Additionally, we were compelled to eat using our hands.
“They attempted to strip us of our humanity. They sought to make us forfeit everything.”
Suarez’s spouse, Nathali, along with their 10-month-old daughter, Nahiara, live in Chile, which means that his family in Venezuela is presently supporting him.
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