Four Venezuelan men deported from the U.S. to El Salvador’s controversial Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo(Cecot) prison have returned home to Maracaibo with harrowing stories of abuse, beatings, and psychological trauma.

Mervin Yamarte, Edwuar Hernández Herrera, Andy Perozo, and Ringo Rincón were mistakenly identified as gang members and arrested in Texas under sweeping immigration orders signed by U.S. President Donald Trump, invoking the 1798 Alien Enemies Act. Despite their claims of innocence and no ties to criminal organizations like Tren de Aragua, they were transferred to Cecot as part of a trilateral agreement between the U.S., El Salvador, and Venezuela.

The men spent four brutal months in the maximum-security prison, where they say they were forced to eat with their hands, sleep on metal beds, and endure daily physical abuse. Their experiences echo widespread human rights concerns about Cecot, which has faced repeated criticism for overcrowding, violence, and lack of legal due process.

After a prisoner exchange last week that saw 252 Venezuelans released from El Salvador, emotional homecomings unfolded in the Los Pescadores neighborhood. Families welcomed their loved ones with music, balloons in Venezuelan colors, and tears. But joy was mixed with grief, as the returnees described torture, lack of medical care, and psychological scars.

Venezuela’s Attorney General has now opened an investigation into the alleged abuses, targeting Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and senior prison officials. Bukele, in turn, dismissed the outcry as political opportunism by the Maduro government.

Despite the trauma, the four men are trying to rebuild their lives. “I hardly recognize my kids,” said Andy Perozo. “I won’t leave the country again. I just want to work.”

Their story is a stark reminder of the human cost of geopolitics, deportation policies, and unchecked detention practices in the name of national security.