For months, they say, they were beaten by prison guards, shot with pellets, deprived of adequate medical care and denied any due process inside El Salvador’s Center for Terrorism Confinement.
“(The guards) tortured us physically and psychologically,” said José Mora, one of 252 Venezuelan migrants recently held at the notorious mega-prison known as Cecot, after being deported there by the US.
“It was a nightmare. I heard many brothers asking for help, shouting, ‘Mom, help!’” added Rafael Martínez, another detainee.
That four-month “nightmare” ended on Friday, when El Salvador agreed to release all 252 migrants as part of a prisoner exchange deal between the US and Venezuela.
Mora and Martínez are now reunited with their families in Venezuela and are speaking out about their experience, which they described as a violation of their human rights.
CNN has reached out to the Salvadoran presidency for comment on their claims of abuse, but has not yet received a response. In the past, the government has said it respects the human rights of those in its custody “regardless of nationality,” and that its prison system complies with standards of security and order.
Deported to a foreign prison
According to records, Martinez faced robbery charges in the US, pleaded guilty, and was released on bail before being arrested and sent to the Salvadoran prison. Mora, meanwhile, was jailed in Venezuela for drug possession-related offenses and served his sentence. In the United States, he received traffic violations, according to official records.
Like many other Venezuelan migrants sent to El Salvador from the United States, Mora and Martínez say US officials wrongly accused them of belonging to the Venezuelan criminal group Tren de Aragua. Despite their denials, they were deported from the United States in March.
Initially, they thought they would be flown home to Venezuela, but as soon as their deportation planes landed, they realized they had been sent to another country.
Salvadoran officials boarded the aircraft and ordered them to exit, they said.
“That’s where the mistreatment began,” according Martínez, who said the officials forced them out by beating them, and held their heads down as they escorted them on to buses.
They were subsequently taken to Cecot, where the abuse continued, they told CNN. Once inside, they said they were forced to kneel on the ground as officers shaved their heads and confiscated their belongings – including jewelry and US dollars.
Mora said one senior prison worker told him, “Welcome to hell. You will never get out of here. You will not see the light of day.”
Alleged beatings and a hunger strike
The conditions in the mega-prison were punishing, the migrants said.
They slept on metal bunks with no mattresses, shared a cell with nine other people, ate the same meatless meals every day, and were only allowed to shower once per day at 4 a.m.
Anyone who disobeyed would either be beaten or have their food taken away, the ex-detainees told CNN.
Martínez alleged that he was once punished for putting his head through the cell bars when he felt sick. He said he was taken to a different cell, where about eight guards beat him and fractured his right arm.
At a certain point, the prisoners decided they’d had enough, so they launched a hunger strike demanding basic human rights, as well as access to lawyers and the press.
But that act of defiance was met with a fierce response, according to Mora.
“When we protested, they shot at us point-blank with rubber bullets, point-blank into the cell,” Mora said. “We were like chickens or rats locked up … and they shot us with rubber bullets.”
Some started losing hope – until about a week ago, when they say their treatment suddenly changed.
The guards gave them new haircuts, fed them “good” meals like burgers and pizza, and provided them with new clothes.
“We thought something good could be coming,” Martínez said.
Indeed, they were being released from prison. On Friday, they were let out of their cells and onto buses that took them to an airport, where a couple of planes were waiting to fly them back to Venezuela.
Caracas and Washington had struck a deal that guaranteed the release of all 252 Venezuelan migrants from El Salvador in exchange for 10 US nationals and dozens of political prisoners held in Venezuela.
“We’re leaving,” Mora recalled one of his compatriots saying.
A second chance in Venezuela
The migrants landed in Venezuela on Friday night and underwent several days of health, immigration, and criminal background checks, among other procedures – a routine process for deportees returning to the country.
By Monday night, some migrants were gradually allowed to reunite with their families across the country.
Mora and Martínez, now at home, say they’re happy to be back in their country and plan to stay there to restart their lives and careers.
Asked whether he would ever return to the US, Martínez said, “No, lest they accuse me of being a terrorist.”
“God gave me another opportunity,” he continued. “One must take advantage … and move forward.”