Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen claimed Friday the El Salvador government set up his incongruous photo op with accused MS-13 soldier Kilmar Abrego Garcia by planting glasses of margarita cocktails in front of the pair when they met at Van Hollen’s hotel the day before.
Van Hollen (D-Md.) — who touched down at Dulles International Airport following his three-day trip to the Central American country to try to win Abrego Garcia’s release — told reporters a Salvadoran official passed them the drinks to make it seem like the deported migrant was living in luxury rather than fearing for his life in a gang prison.
“They made a little mistake,” said Van Hollen, who insisted neither he nor Abrego Garcia indulged during their chat. “If you sip out of one of those glasses, some of whatever it was, salt or sugar, would disappear.
“You would see a gap. There’s no gap. Nobody drank any margaritas for sugar water or whatever it is.”
El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele, who has been working with the Trump administration by accepting suspected gang members to the notorious CECOT megaprison, mocked the Van Hollen visit on X.
“Kilmar Abrego Garcia, miraculously risen from the ‘death camps’ & ‘torture’, now sipping margaritas with Sen. Van Hollen in the tropical paradise of El Salvador,” Bukele wrote Thursday.
Read more at https://nypost.com/2025/04/18/us-news/sen-van-hollen-claims-margaritas-were-planted-by-el-salvadorians-during-meeting-with-alleged-ms-13-gangbanger-kilmar-abrego-garcia/
The New York Post is your source for breaking news, news about New York, sports, business, entertainment, opinion, real estate, culture, fashion, and more.
#chrisvanhollen #kilmarabregogarcia #margarita #elsalvador
Subscribe to New York Post Sports: https://www.youtube.com/c/nypostsports
Catch the latest news here: https://nypost.com/
Follow The New York Post on:
Twitter - https://twitter.com/nypost
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/NYPost
--
Support podtube.me continuity as a free service. Become a Patreon or make an one-time donation
--
Video at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhevUT9ppUY