El Salvador President Nayib Bukele hilariously trolled deposed Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on social media after the latter's arrest Saturday, posting a video on X of Maduro threatening Bukele alongside a photo of Maduro in handcuffs.
In the video, part of a speech Maduro gave in Cuba a few years ago (I couldn't find the original, but it's been out there for a while), he says:
"The people of El Salvador can rest assured that no meddlesome upstart, no puppet of imperialism like this 'Bukele' character, will separate the peoples of El Salvador and Venezuela. We will remain united. Bukele, if you mess with us, you will wither away. Bukele will wither!"
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) January 3, 2026
Nope, that didn't age well.
The video also shows a smirking Salvador Sánchez Cerén, a communist and former guerrilla commander who was President of El Salvador from 2014 through 2019, when Bukele and his party booted the commies from power. Sánchez Cerén and his family left El Salvador in 2020 for Nicaragua, and he was subsequently indicted on charges of embezzlement, illicit enrichment, and money laundering up to $530,000. Sánchez Cerén's regime, unsurprisingly, had extremely close relations with Maduro, but Bukele expelled Venezuelan diplomats from El Salvador not long after taking office.
Bukele has worked with the United States on dealing with Maduro for quite some time. Back in July 2025, he was instrumental in securing the release of 10 Americans being wrongfully detained in Venezuela.
You’re free now… pic.twitter.com/bbI6nfcyIS
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) July 19, 2025
Secretary of State Marco Rubio singled Bukele out, praising him for his work:
Today, thanks to President Trump’s leadership and commitment to the American people, the United States welcomes home ten Americans who were detained in Venezuela. Until today, more Americans were wrongfully held in Venezuela than any other country in the world. It is unacceptable that Venezuelan regime representatives arrested and jailed U.S. nationals under highly questionable circumstances and without proper due process. Every wrongfully detained American in Venezuela is now free and back in our homeland.
I want to thank my team at the State Department, as well as our interagency partners, and especially El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, for their work to secure these long-awaited releases and their efforts to ensure the safety of U.S. nationals both at home and abroad. Our commitment to the American people is clear: we will safeguard the well-being of U.S. nationals both at home and abroad and not rest until all Americans being held hostage or unjustly detained around the world are brought home.
On December 31, the New York Times reported that Maduro's forces had since resumed its practice of detaining Americans in the country to use as leverage in negotiating with Washington, capturing "three Venezuelan-American dual passport holders and two American citizens with no known ties to the country."
That didn't stop Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) from going after Bukele on X, while propping up Maduro. Van Hollen posted the standard Democrat statement on the matter, taking the interesting position of supporting a delusional criminal who refused to leave office after being defeated at the ballot box, and Bukele pointed out Van Hollen's pattern of defending thugs (like Kilmar Abrego Garcia).
So you just want to defend thugs. https://t.co/WptuahoZ09
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) January 3, 2026
Van Hollen's comeback was the verbal form of a limp-wristed slap:
You don’t see me out here defending you.
— Senator Chris Van Hollen (@ChrisVanHollen) January 3, 2026
Or Maduro for that matter, but I know the rule of law is a difficult concept for someone who calls himself "the world's coolest dictator." https://t.co/eFR0ykDHDt
To which Bukele humorously replied:
No more margaritas for you. https://t.co/JLFUN8guQJ
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) January 3, 2026
Wait, didn't Van Hollen claim he only drank water with the mild-mannered "Maryland Man"?
Regardless, the events of the last few days have made it pretty clear who's winning and who's losing, and the Maduro/Van Hollen team is not on the winning side.
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