BARQUISIMETO, Venezuela After four harrowing months inside one of the world’s most notorious prisons, Venezuelan migrant Maikel Olivera was reunited with his family on Tuesday in scenes of both jubilation and anguish.

The 37-year-old was among 252 Venezuelans deported by the United States earlier this year and sent to El Salvador’s high-security CECOT prison, under a controversial agreement between Washington and President Nayib Bukele’s government. The group was accused without formal charges or due process of gang affiliations and confined to the facility as part of an aggressive crackdown on undocumented migrants.

Their return, facilitated through a discreet prisoner exchange deal with the U.S., has sparked international outrage and renewed scrutiny of cross-border deportation practices and human rights violations in detention facilities.

‘Real Hell’

Outside Olivera’s family home in Barquisimeto, cars honked in celebration and neighbors waved Venezuelan flags as he stepped out of a police vehicle and into his mother’s embrace.

“You’ve come back to life, my love!” cried Olivia Rojas, his mother, sobbing as she held her son for the first time since his March detention.

But beneath the tears of relief were scars visible and unseen.

“There were beatings 24 hours a day,” Olivera recounted. “They told us: ‘You will rot here. You’ll be imprisoned for 300 years.’ I thought I would never return to Venezuela again.”

Olivera described CECOT a sprawling “anti-terrorism” megaprison built by Bukele to detain violent gang members — as a place of relentless abuse and degradation. Migrants were allegedly denied legal counsel, access to family, and subjected to physical and sexual abuse.

“I had a friend who was gay. They raped him,” Olivera told AFP. “They beat us just for taking a shower.”

The Venezuelan government, itself under scrutiny for alleged rights abuses, accused Salvadoran authorities of torturing the men, feeding them rotten food, and shooting them with rubber bullets during their incarceration.

‘Migrating is Not a Crime’

Many of those deported, including Olivera, had reached the United States in search of economic survival, part of a broader exodus of over eight million Venezuelans fleeing poverty, repression, and political instability.

But their American dream ended abruptly when they were detained and deported under a secretive arrangement initiated during Donald Trump’s presidency. Human rights groups have decried the program as a violation of international refugee law and due process rights.

At the height of the crackdown, Salvadoran officials shared images of the deported migrants shackled, heads shaved, and lined up inside the CECOT facility. Those were the last their families saw of them until last week.

On Friday, two planes carrying the freed Venezuelans landed in Caracas, and by Tuesday, many were finally home.

In Maracaibo, 29-year-old Mervin Yamarte collapsed in tears when he was greeted by his wife, daughter, and mother amid a cheering crowd of 300.

“It was complete torture,” he said, lifting his shirt to reveal bruises and scars. “I have many marks on my body.”

His mother, Mercedes Yamarte, had spent days decorating their modest home with balloons and a banner that read: “Welcome to your homeland, you were missed.”

‘They Had No Record’

The families insist the men had no criminal history.

“They have no record of criminal activity, nothing,” said Jonferson Yamarte, Mervin’s younger brother. “Humble people seeking a better future who ended up in this nightmare.”

In Maracaibo, Yarelis Herrera broke down in joy as her son Edwuar, 23, stepped off a police bus. “He looks very changed. More like a man now,” she said, her voice trembling.

Olivera, Yamarte, Hernandez and others had risked the perilous journey to the U.S. border a route that has become the only hope for many in crisis-ravaged Venezuela.

Their stories, once a quiet tragedy, have now become a rallying cry.

As the celebration faded Tuesday night, one supporter’s shirt captured the sentiment best:
“Migrating is not a crime.”