‘Margarita or just water?’: Senator Chris van Hollen, El Salvador’s president trade claims over meeting optics

Senator Chris Van Hollen on Friday accused El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele of staging a deceptive media stunt during his meeting with Kilmar Abrego Garcia — a man the US government wrongfully deported under the Trump administration — by planting margarita glasses on the table to falsely suggest a casual, celebratory encounter.
Speaking to reporters at Dulles International Airport on Friday after returning from a visit to El Salvador, the Maryland Democrat said the Salvadoran government attempted to downplay the seriousness of Abrego Garcia’s detention at the notorious CECOT prison by orchestrating misleading visuals. “They wanted to create this appearance that life was just lovely for Kilmar, which of course is a big, fat lie,” Van Hollen said.

Van Hollen and Abrego Garcia, who had not spoken to anyone outside prison since his deportation, met Thursday night at a hotel. Initially, only water was on the table. But Van Hollen said two additional glasses were later placed by a Salvadoran official — one seemingly a margarita with a salted rim and the other a similar-looking drink.
“Let me just be very clear: Neither of us touched the drinks that were in front of us,” Van Hollen said. “Nobody drank any margaritas or sugar water or whatever it is.”
The senator pointed out that the stunt appeared designed to suggest Abrego Garcia — who had spent time in one of Latin America’s harshest prisons — was relaxed and well-treated, despite evidence to the contrary. He even noted that the initial proposal was to hold the meeting beside a hotel pool, adding, “This is a guy who’s been in CECOT, this is a guy who’s been detained.”
Van Hollen turned what might have been dismissed as a social media rumour into a pointed critique of Bukele’s administration and its public relations tactics, suggesting it was an attempt to mask systemic abuses and whitewash the state’s treatment of detainees.
Also read: What Donald Trump said in first reaction on deported Maryland man Kilmar Abrego Garcia linked to MS-13
“If you want to play a little Sherlock Holmes, I’ll tell you how you can,” he said, referring to the untouched rims of the glasses. “You would see a gap. There’s no gap.”
The US government has acknowledged that Abrego Garcia’s deportation was a mistake. Van Hollen said the purpose of the meeting was to assess Abrego Garcia’s health and condition. The former detainee told him he had recently been moved out of CECOT and was doing well — a rare glimpse into the fate of deportees caught at the intersection of US immigration policy and Central American politics.