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Security & Strategic Review - April 2025

VENEZUELA/EL SALVADOR: Tren de Aragua becomes focus of Trump’s deportation drive

It is only in the last three years that the Tren de Aragua (TdA), an organised crime group of Venezuelan origin, began generating concern abroad, but in that timeframe the group has leapt towards the forefront of policymakers’ agendas. Nowhere is this more visible than in the US, where on 15 March President Donald Trump invoked the 1798 Alien Enemies Act to enable the rapid deportation of suspected TdA members without due process. On the same day, 238 alleged members of TdA were deported to El Salvador and interned at the ‘Terrorism Containment Centre’ (Cecot), the 40,000 capacity mega-prison underpinning President Nayib Bukele’s fierce security crackdown. The deportations, which have been subject to legal challenges, have been met with alarm by rights groups, with fury in Venezuela, and with open arms by Bukele, who is eager to deepen his bond with Trump.

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