SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The Salvadoran president on Tuesday criticized Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro ’s rejection of a swap that would see Venezuelan deportees from the United States detained in El Salvador exchanged for what he said were “political prisoners” in Venezuela.
Maduro has demanded the immediate release of 250 Venezuelans held in an El Salvador mega-prison built by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele to house gang members. Maduro claimed in his weekly televised address on Monday that “Bukele is a serial violator of the right to freedom, fair treatment, and human dignity.”
He urged that Bukele, instead of an exchange, sign “a decree granting unconditional freedom” to the deportees.
For his part, Bukele in a post on X on Tuesday goaded Maduro, asking wasn’t the Venezuelan leader the one who said he’d do “whatever it takes” to secure the release of the Venezuelans detained in El Salvador.
Bukele and Maduro's comments underscore the two leaders' longstanding animosity, rooted in diametrically opposed political visions. While both governments have faced fierce democratic and human rights criticisms in recent years, Bukele has increasingly cozied up to U.S. President Donald Trump while right-wing figures have long held up Maduro as a example of democratic decay.
Among those Bukele wants set free by Maduro are the son-in-law of former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González, several political leaders seeking asylum in the Argentine Embassy in Venezuela, and what he said were 50 detained citizens from a number of different countries across the world.
In his initial proposal on Sunday, Bukele also listed the mother of Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado, whose house remains allegedly surrounded by Venezuelan police since January.
The proposal triggered an angry response from Venezuela's government, which demanded Bukele’s government provide a list of all Venezuelans detained in El Salvador, along with details about their health.
Bukele reiterated his proposal in the social media post on Tuesday, citing Venezuela's 2023 prisoner swap with the Biden administration for a Maduro ally.
“Weren’t you the one who said you would do “whatever it takes” to secure the release of the Venezuelans detained in El Salvador?” Bukele wrote on X, addressing Maduro.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele waves as he departs following a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump, Monday, April 14, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
NEW YORK (AP) — R&B singer Cassie delved further into text messages with former boyfriend Sean “Diddy” Combs during her cross-examination Friday in the music mogul’s sex trafficking trial, telling him “I’m not a rag doll. I’m somebody’s child” after he beat her at a Los Angeles hotel in 2016.
However, as they tried to recover from the episode, she and Combs were expressing love for each other just days later, with Cassie writing in one text: “We need a different vibe from Friday.”
She and one of Combs’ defense attorneys read the couple’s messages aloud during two days of cross-examination in a Manhattan courtroom, which ended Friday afternoon. The defense also tried to discredit Cassie’s testimony that Combs raped her in 2018 after she ended their nearly 11-year relationship.
In the “rag doll” text, Cassie, whose legal name is Casandra Ventura, told Combs he was out of control from drugs and alcohol that day. After hotel security video of the assault was released last year, Combs apologized and said he was “disgusted” by his actions.
Federal prosecutors allege Combs exploited his status as a music executive and businessman to force women into drug-fueled encounters with male sex workers, called “freak-offs,” that he watched and directed. Cassie is one of several accusers expected to testify.
However, Combs’ lawyers want the jury to see Cassie as a willing and eager participant in his sexual lifestyle. He has pleaded not guilty to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
His defense says that, although he could be violent, nothing he did amounted to a criminal enterprise. And Combs insists all the sex at the freak-offs was consensual.
Cassie, the prosecution’s star witness, testified she was ashamed and loathed taking part in “hundreds” of the freak-offs, which could go on for days. But she said she felt compelled because Combs threatened her with violence, and was physically abusive “a lot” during the encounters. He also threatened to publicly release sex videos of her if she made him angry, she said.
Combs, 55, has been jailed since September. He faces at least 15 years in prison if convicted.
Cassie, who is pregnant with her third child and nearing her due date, spent four days on the witness stand.
When Judge Arun Subramanian told her she could leave, saying, “You’ve been here a long time,” Cassie glanced once toward the jury but never looked in Combs' direction as she walked out of the courtroom for the final time.
Throughout Friday’s testimony, Combs kept lowering his head to write a steady stream of messages on small sheets of paper that he passed to his defense attorneys.
Dawn Richard is a singer who appeared on Combs’ reality show “Making the Band,” which launched her group act Danity Kane. She testified Friday that she witnessed Combs physically attack Cassie on multiple occasions.
Richard said she and another woman saw Combs hit Cassie “on the head and beat her on the ground” while at his home studio in 2009. He brought them back the next day, giving Richard flowers and putting a spin on what happened.
“He said that what we saw was passion and what lovers in relationships do,” she testified. But he also locked them in his recording studio and allegedly threatened them to stay silent or else, she said.
Richard sued Combs last year, accusing him of physical abuse, groping and psychological abuse during the years they worked together.
During cross-examination on Thursday and Friday, the defense had Cassie read texts and emails that showed her apparent willingness to participate in the sexual encounters Combs orchestrated.
In a 2012 exchange, Combs told Cassie he wanted to “FO one last time tonight,” using initials for freak-off. Cassie replied, “What?” Combs said, “You can’t read?” Then Cassie replied, “I don’t want to freak off for the last time. I want it to be the first time for the rest of our lives."
Estevao ended her questioning there, but prosecutor Emily Johnson had Cassie read more messages for context.
“I want to see you, but I’m emotional right now,” Cassie wrote. “I don’t want to do one last time. I’d rather not do it at all.”
Cassie testified she was initially open to the encounters because she wanted to make him happy and spend time with him, but grew weary as the years went on.
The Associated Press does not typically name people who say they have been sexually abused unless they come forward publicly, as Cassie has.
Cassie filed a lawsuit in 2023 accusing Combs of physical and sexual abuse, but they settled within hours for $20 million — an amount she disclosed publicly for the first time this week. Dozens of other women have since made similar legal claims.
Cassie’s testimony ended with another bombshell disclosure: She said she recently reached an estimated $10 million settlement with Intercontinental Hotel in Los Angeles, where she was assaulted. She didn’t disclose the nature of her claim.
Estevao also raised questions on Friday about Cassie's rape claim against Combs, noting that Cassie gave differing descriptions of his demeanor and the timing of the alleged assault in interviews with investigators and in her trial testimony.
Cassie contends the rape happened at her Los Angeles home after she and Combs had dinner in Malibu, California, to discuss their breakup, either in August or September 2018.
While Cassie testified this week that Combs was “really nice” and “playful” at the dinner, Estevao pointed out that Cassie told investigators in 2023 that Combs had been “acting very strangely” that night. Cassie clarified, “Nice, but strangely."
Cassie also testified this week that Combs, during the dinner, was trying to get her to go to the Burning Man festival in Nevada, but previously told investigators that the dinner and rape happened after Combs returned from Burning Man.
Cassie acknowledged she stayed in touch with Combs and had consensual sex with him a few weeks after she says he raped her. She also exchanged warm messages with Combs after they broke up, even after she marrying Alex Fine in 2019.
Cassie released a statement saying she hoped her testimony helps others “heal from the abuse and fear.”
“For me, the more I heal, the more I can remember," she said. “And the more I can remember, the more I will never forget.”
Associated Press writer Dave Collins in Hartford, Connecticut, contributed to this report.
Alex Fine, husband of Cassie Ventura, arrives at Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
FILE - Dawn Richard arrives at the 66th annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File)
Sean "Diddy" Combs, left, and Cassie Ventura attend The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating the opening of the Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination exhibition, May 7, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP File)
Cassie Ventura wipes tears from her eye while testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
FILE - Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean "Diddy" Combs appear at The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute benefit gala celebrating "China: Through the Looking Glass" in New York on May 4, 2015. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File)
FILE - Cassie Ventura, left, and Sean "Diddy" Combs, arrive at the Los Angeles premiere of "Can't Stop, Won't Stop: A Bad Boy Story" at the Writers Guild Theater, June 21, 2017, in Beverly Hills, Calif. (Photo by Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP File)
Sean Diddy'Combs, far left, and attorney Marc Agnifilo, right, sit at the defense table during witness testimony in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
Cassie Ventura takes an oath before testifying in Manhattan federal court, Tuesday, May 13, 2025, in New York. (Elizabeth Williams via AP)
