THE right-wing president of El Salvador proposed on Monday that his country would be willing to jail convicts from the United States for a fee.

President Nayib Bukele made the “unprecedented offer” during a visit by the US Secretary of State Marco Rubio to his Lake Coatepeque residence, just outside the capital San Salvador.

Mr Bukele said that his country was willing to imprison US convicts in a new prison opened last year. It is the largest prison in Latin America.

The El Salvadoran president wrote on X: “We have offered the US the opportunity to outsource part of its prison system.

“The fee would be relatively low for the US but significant for us, making our entire prison system sustainable.”

Secretary of State Rubio told reporters that President Bukele “agreed to the most unprecedented, extraordinary, extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world.

“He has offered to house in his jails dangerous American criminals in custody in our country, including those with US citizenship and legal residency.”

He said: “No country’s ever made an offer of friendship such as this. We are profoundly grateful.”

The US State Department describes El Salvador’s overcrowded prisons as “harsh and dangerous.”

The State Department website says: “In many facilities, provisions for sanitation, potable water, ventilation, temperature control and lighting are inadequate or non-existent.”