At least the guy is still alive and healthy. For now.
Bukele still refuses to release him because fuck him in particular, but at least he’s still confirmed alive.
alive and healthy does not include mental health
a lot of broken people are alive and healthy
What the fuck was that picture Van Hollen sent out? Like, if you only saw the photo of Garcia talking with Van Hollen at that table you would think he’s totally fine and just on a vacation down there. Where was Garcia’s prison uniform, the cell he was staying in, his cellmates, the armed guards escorting him, the shackles etc., any kind of stuff that might tell us how his day to day life has actually been down there? Letting the guards clean up what they’ve been doing to him, stick him in civilian clothes, and bring him to a fancy hotel to meet with Van Hollen was all propaganda bullshit and this senator signal boosted it.
I’m really grateful he went down there and got this meeting, but posting that misleading picture was dumb.
The biggest news out of this meeting is that Sen. Van Hollen reports that Abrego Garcia was transferred out of CECOT to another prison last week:
Van Hollen said Abrego Garcia said he had been “traumatized” by being at El Salvador’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, or CECOT, and fearful of detainees in other cell blocks “who called out to him and taunted him in various ways.”
Abrego Garcia said he was transferred last week to a different detention center with better conditions, but still had no ability to communicate with anyone outside the facility, the senator said.
The public pressure on this is working. The mere fact that Bukele felt the need to try to stage a photo op by the swimming pool of a luxury hotel means that he cares about appearances. Let’s keep the pressure on.