El Salvador‘s CECOT maximum security prison is hell on Earth. Built in 2022, it has the capacity for 40,000 inmates and has been repeatedly criticized for human rights abuses, inhumane conditions, overcrowded cells, and ignorance of due process.
It’s currently in the news as Donald Trump decided it’s the perfect destination for over 200 men he wanted to get rid of, even the Supreme Court has ordered be returned immediately.
Trump isn’t lifting a finger to help him, raising the prospect of a constitutional crisis. But, what if there was a very grim reason Garcia can’t be returned? After all, those fighting for his release have been unable to speak with him, and despite a judge demanding answers, Trump officials only insist that he’s “alive and secure” without showing any evidence to that. Is he really alive?
CECOT is a secure, remote and highly guarded facility, has been described as a “black hole of human rights“, and access by press is tightly regulated. Now, after examining satellite imagery, many have growing suspicions that something horrible is taking place behind these walls:
He won’t be returned because he’s dead. CECOT is a death camp. https://t.co/8HVY6y8KBa pic.twitter.com/MtjbDqhAIS
— Feels Like A Seal 🦭🛞💨 (@DazeOfWar) April 14, 2025
It’s worth underlining that this picture appears to have been taken on Mar. 20, 2024, so this is not a current indication of the facility. It’s also a blurry satellite photo, so what appears to be a pool of blood may be some other kind of crimson or dark red liquid, or possibly even just water on a reddish dirt floor. Regardless, others are convinced that CECOT is, secretly, a death camp:
never been more obvious that they killed this guy and have no clue what to do to bring him back. Check out the sat photos of CECOT. Literally is a death camp https://t.co/jLDlmwZtRL
— 🍉 John Steakhouse 🍉 (@abigbowlofchili) April 14, 2025
El Salvador Justice Minister Gustavo Villatoro isn’t exactly helping by openly saying that any “gang ” sent here won’t ever be freed and that officials “will make sure none of those who enter the CECOT ever leave on foot.” Which is, well, ominous.
El Salvador running a death camp and America scooping innocent men off the street to die there does sound far-fetched. But then, when rumors of the Nazi death camps began circulating in the 1930s many people dismissed those reports as too lurid to be true.
I’m about to board my flight to El Salvador, where I hope to meet with senior government officials to discuss the return of Kilmar Abrego Garcia.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) April 16, 2025
I also hope to see Kilmar and check on his condition — and remind him that we won’t stop fighting until he’s home. pic.twitter.com/dunE0lytIb
Either way, Senator Chris Van Hollen is currently traveling to CECOT to try and meet Garcia and arrange for his return. Whether Hollen will be able to confirm Garcia is alive or even be able to get inside the secretive prison remains to be seen. Here’s hoping we get some answers soon, as whatever’s going on behind those walls sounds like a living nightmare.
Published: Apr 16, 2025 08:22 am