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By Julie TurkewitzTibisay RomeroSheyla Urdaneta and Isayen Herrera
Photographs by Adriana Loureiro Fernandez
The reporters have covered Venezuela for years.
Nov. 8, 2025
They said they were shackled, beaten, shot with rubber bullets and tear gassed until they passed out.
Listen to this article with reporter commentary
They said they were punished in a dark room called the island, where they were trampled, kicked and forced to kneel for hours.
One man said officers thrust his head into a tank of water to simulate drowning. Another said he was forced to perform oral sex on guards wearing hoods.
They said they were told by officials that they would die in the Salvadoran prison, that the world had forgotten them.
When they could no longer take it, they said, they cut themselves, writing protest messages on sheets in blood.
A map locating CECOT prison in El Salvador. The map also shows Venezuela in relation to Elsalvador.
Caribbean Sea
DETAIL AREA
Caracas
Venezuela
Guatemala
Honduras
El Salvador
San Salvador
CECOT prison
50 MILES
