El Salvador President and Trump Ally Bukele Accused of Cutting Deals With MS-13 Gang Members Using U.S. Aid

How El Salvador's government impeded a probe of MS-13

ProPublica uncovered a previously unreported request where federal agents spelled out their suspicions that Bukele might have diverted USAID funds to MS-13 as part of the secret deal.

Daniel Ortega is No Nayib Bukele

Left Photo: Inmate in Nicaragua receives diploma (19 Digital). Right Photo: Inmates dehumanized in El Salvador (El Salvador Presidency handout/Anadolu/Getty Images) Ortega and Bukele are polar opposites: one invests in dignity and democracy, the other in mass incarceration and imperial alliances. Opposition media from both Nicaragua and El Salvador, along with the Washington Post, Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch, all vilify Nicarag…

'Do what you have to do': Trump ally accused of impeding a U.S. investigation of the MS-13 gang

Reporting HighlightsInvestigation Impeded: Despite Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele’s crime fighter reputation, his top aides blocked extraditions of MS-13 leaders to the U.S., officials say.Money Laundering Inquiry: U.S. agents drew up a request to examine whether Bukele and senior officials had diverted USAID funds to help out MS-13 gang members.Salvadoran Allies Threatened: Law enforcement officials had to flee El Salvador after facing haras…

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.

Staggering report claims 'secret deal' links Trump ally and notorious MS-13 gang

In mid-April, President Donald Trump sat down in the Oval Office with President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador to celebrate a new partnership. They had recently negotiated an extraordinary deal in which El Salvador agreed to incarcerate in a maximum security prison hundreds of Venezuelan immigrants that the Trump administration had labeled as violent criminals, though few had been convicted of such crimes. The U.S. also sent back accused members of…