Explainer-What is El Salvador's mega-prison holding Venezuelans deported from the US?

By Nelson Renteria, Brendan O'Boyle and Raul Cortes

SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) -The U.S. has sent hundreds of mostly Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador to be held without trial in a controversial mega-prison known for its harsh conditions.

Here is what we know about the mega-prison called CECOT, an acronym for Terrorism Confinement Center in Spanish. The facility has drawn praise from hardline law-and-order politicians at home and abroad and ire from human rights organizations.

WHY ARE MIGRANTS HELD AT THE PRISON?

During a visit from U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio in February, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele offered to incarcerate criminals deported from the U.S. in the mega-prison.

The Trump administration deported 261 people to El Salvador on March 15. For 137 of them, the U.S. government justified the move under the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, saying the men were members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua but providing few details about their cases.

A U.S. official said in a court filing that "many" of those 137 has no U.S. convictions but still posed a serious threat.

Those people along with 101 additional Venezuelans were sent to CECOT for a one-year term that can be renewed, Bukele said. The U.S. government paid El Salvador about $6 million to receive the deportees, the White House said.

The remaining 23 deportees were Salvadoran gang members, the White House said.

WHAT IS THE CECOT PRISON?

In February 2023, El Salvador opened what it claims is Latin America's biggest prison with capacity for 40,000 inmates. The 57-acre (23-hectare) prison is isolated in a rural region 70 km (43.5 miles) east of capital San Salvador.

Bukele in November said the prison cost $115 million to develop and equip.

This prison is part of Bukele's highly popular hardline security policy which has resulted in a sharp drop in homicides.

Calling himself the world's "coolest dictator," Bukele, 43, declared a state of emergency in March 2022 that remains in effect and has entailed the arrest of more than 84,000 people.

This includes alleged members of El Salvador's Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13 gang and its rival, Barrio 18.

Government reports put the prison population at 14,500 inmates in August 2024, but a government spokesperson said in March 2025 that the statistic was outdated. A current figure was not disclosed security reasons, the spokesperson said.

WHAT IS IT LIKE IN THE PRISON?

Images taken inside the facility often show prisoners packed tightly together with their heads shaved and wearing only shorts.

The prison has no outdoor recreational space and no family visits are allowed.

A report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in September 2024 expressed concerns about overcrowding in the CECOT, citing a study that found inmates had an average 0.60 square meters (6.45 square feet) of space, below international standards.

Civil society organizations and advocates have reported over 6,000 human rights violations in the country since the state of emergency was declared in 2022, including arbitrary detentions, torture and 366 deaths in state custody. The government denies the allegations.

WHY IS THE PRISON CONTROVERSIAL?

CECOT has attracted global attention, both positive and negative. Argentine Security Minister Patricia Bullrich praised the facility in a June 2024 social media post that said: "This is the way. Tough on criminals."

A U.S. Republican Party delegation from the House of Representatives, led by then-Representative Matt Gaetz, visited the prison a month later.

YouTube personalities have had millions of views for their prison visit videos that highlighted harsh conditions in the prison.

Many human rights organizations have criticized El Salvador's prisons and especially CECOT. Groups have reported human rights violations like torture, inmate deaths and mass trials.

Bukele said in August that "gang members will spend their entire lives in prison." Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro vowed in 2023 that officials "will make sure none of those who enter the CECOT ever leave on foot."

(Reporting by Nelson Renteria in San Salvador and Raul Cortes and Brendan O'Boyle in Mexico City; Editing by Sandra Maler and Cynthia Osterman)