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Salvador blocks US senator from visiting wrongly deported Salvadoran man

REUTERS
Friday, Apr 18, 2025

SAN SALVADOR/WASHINGTON: Democratic US Senator Chris Van Hollen said on Thursday authorities in El Salvador had denied him access to Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Salvadoran man mistakenly deported and being held in a notorious prison in the country.

Van Hollen arrived in El Salvador on Wednesday to meet with senior officials and advocate for Abrego Garcia’s release, but was told by El Salvador’s Vice President Felix Ulloa that he could not authorize a visit or a call with Abrego Garcia.

Van Hollen, who is a member of the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Ulloa also told him El Salvador was not releasing Abrego Garcia because the United States was paying to keep him incarcerated.