Tropical drinks by the pool? Not so fast, says senator who visited Abrego Garcia in El Salvador

There was the excavation furnishings successful the background. There were the tropical drinks, which looked to beryllium margaritas garnished with cherries. And past determination were the deported captive and the American senator, sitting and chatting.

That senator, Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, accused El Salvador's authorities connected Friday of aiming to overgarment the representation of a leisurely respite for the wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia by staging their gathering with drinks appearing to beryllium alcohol, and angling to acceptable the gathering by a edifice pool.

Van Hollen referred to the stagecraft with a word that had ricocheted astir societal media for overmuch of the day: “Margaritagate.”

“Nobody drank immoderate margaritas oregon sweetener h2o oregon immoderate it is,” the Democratic legislator said, calling the full concern “a lesson” successful “the lengths that President Bukele volition bash to deceive radical astir what’s going on.”

A Salvadoran national who was surviving successful Maryland, Abrego Garcia was sent to El Salvador by the Trump administration successful March contempt an migration tribunal bid preventing his deportation.

U.S. President Donald Trump and El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, said this week that they person nary ground to instrumentality him to the United States, adjacent arsenic the Trump medication has called his deportation a mistake and the U.S. Supreme Court has called connected the medication to facilitate his return.

During a quality league Friday astatine Dulles International Airport, conscionable aft returning from El Salvador, the Maryland Democrat said Bukele is aiming to “deceive” radical astir what happened during his gathering with Abrego Garcia, successful portion by posting a photograph with drinks appearing to beryllium alcohol.

When helium and Abrego Garcia archetypal sat down for a gathering astatine the edifice wherever Van Hollen had been staying, the legislator said, they “just had glasses of h2o connected the table, possibly immoderate coffee.”

Subsequently, Van Hollen said, “one of the authorities people” connected the sidelines of their half-hour gathering deposited different beverages connected the table, with brackish oregon sweetener astir the apical — "but they look similar margaritas.”

On X Thursday night, Bukele posted photos of Van Hollen seated with Abrego Garcia, including with the drinks, garnished with maraschino cherries.

“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, present sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen successful the tropical paradise of El Salvador!” Bukele wrote, adding an emoji of a tropical drink.

Van Hollen besides noted that the Bukele authorities had initially projected that helium and Abrego Garcia behaviour their gathering poolside astatine the hotel, alternatively than successful the edifice mounting wherever they convened.

“They privation to make this quality that beingness was conscionable beauteous for Kilmar,” Van Hollen said.

In Friday's quality conference, Van Hollen besides revealed that Abrego Garcia told him that helium was nary longer being held astatine the high-security Terrorism Confinement Center, oregon CECOT, wherever helium and others were initially taken upon leaving the U.S. Van Hollen said helium was initially denied introduction to the installation but surmised Friday that had been due to the fact that Abrego Garcia had already been moved from determination to a detention halfway with amended conditions.

“They decided that it was not a bully look to proceed to detain Abrego Garcia without anybody having entree to him,” Van Hollen said. He added that Abrego Garcia told him helium had not had interaction with anyone extracurricular situation astatine each since helium was removed from the United States.

It was unclear wherever Abrego Garcia was taken aft the gathering with Van Hollen.

Abrego Garcia’s wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, wiped distant tears arsenic Van Hollen spoke of her husband's comments astir wanting to talk with his wife. She did not talk during the quality conference.

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Kinnard tin beryllium reached astatine http://x.com/MegKinnardAP

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