The Japan Times - US senator says El Salvador staged 'margarita' photo op

Chris Van Hollen denied that he drank cocktails with Kilmar Abrego Garcia while in El Salvador to meet the man, who was removed in what the White House has admitted was an "administrative error."

US President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele have refused to bring about the Maryland father's release, despite a US federal judge's order -- backed by the Supreme Court -- for his return.

Van Hollen, a Democrat who represents Abrego Garcia's home state, met the metal worker Thursday at the senator's hotel in San Salvador.

He told reporters on his return to Washington that Abrego Garcia had been moved to a better prison an hour's drive away, but not before being scared for his safety in San Salvador's CECOT, known for reports of rights abuses.

Van Hollen said he realized he had been set up when Bukele posted photos on X of the meeting, alongside a caption stating that Abrego Garcia was "miraculously risen from the 'death camps' & 'torture,' now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador!"

Later at the White House, Trump called Van Hollen a "fake" after he was asked about Bukele's post.

But the two-term senator said one of Bukele's aides had planted cocktail glasses on the table to make it look like Abrego Garcia was being detained in the lap of luxury.

"Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is. But this is a lesson into the lengths that President Bukele will do to deceive people about what's going on," Van Hollen said.

"And it also shows the lengths that the Trump administration and the president will go to, because when he was asked (by) a reporter about this, he just went along for the ride."

Van Hollen said Bukele's officials had even pushed for the meeting to take place beside the hotel's pool "to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar."

- 'Total blackout' -

Abrego Garcia, a Salvadoran migrant, entered the United States illegally in 2011 but was given an indefinite reprieve from deportation in 2019.

He was among scores of deportees the Trump administration has paid Bukele's administration several million dollars to keep in detention.

Trump has not revealed the terms of the deal, including any arrangements for the detainees' care, how the contract is being monitored for compliance or when the prisoners will be released.

The US government says Abrego Garcia is a member of the notorious MS-13 Salvadoran gang, although the evidence it has produced has been dismissed as inadequate by a federal court.

He denies gang membership and has never been charged with crimes in either country.

Van Hollen shared details of his half-hour meeting with Abrego Garcia, saying the detainee told him he had been in a cell with around 25 others.

"He said he was not afraid of the other prisoners in his immediate cell, but that he was traumatized by being at CECOT, and fearful of many of the prisoners in other cell blocks who called out to him and taunted him in various ways," the senator told reporters.

Van Hollen added that even under his better conditions, Abrego Garcia was still under a "total blackout," with no access to news from the outside world and no contact with family.

The senator said Abrego Garcia grew emotional as he spoke repeatedly about his five-year-old son, who has autism and was in the car when Kilmar was pulled over by US government agents in Maryland and handcuffed.

"His conversation with me was the first communication he had with anybody outside a prison since he was abducted. He said he felt very sad about being in a prison because he had not committed any crimes," the Democrat went on.

"When I asked him what was the one thing he would ask for, in addition to his freedom, he said he wanted to talk to his wife, Jennifer."

T.Shimizu--JT