Caracas, Venezuela - US deportation flights to Venezuela have resumed after a roughly month-long pause, which occurred under the hardline immigration policies of the Donald Trump administration. Early on March 24th, 199 Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States arrived in Venezuela on a flight that transited through Honduras.
The Venezuelan government announced the resumption of US deportation flights last Saturday, a month after they were halted amidst mutual accusations between the two governments regarding the deportation agreement reached in January.
"Today, we welcome 199 compatriots," stated Diosdado Cabello, Minister of Internal Affairs, upon their arrival at Maiquetía International Airport. The aircraft, belonging to the state airline Conviasa, landed at 1:01 AM local time on March 24th (05:01 GMT).
As he disembarked the plane, one deportee exclaimed loudly, "Thank you! God bless Venezuela!" Earlier, state television broadcast images of male migrants in handcuffs inside the aircraft at an airport in Honduras.
Minister Cabello mentioned that this was the fourth flight carrying deported Venezuelans from the United States. The previous two flights departed from El Paso, Texas, on February 10th and carried 177 migrants who had been detained at the US naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, before being repatriated via Honduras.
"The flights have restarted," Cabello affirmed, adding, "It was not Venezuela's fault, but rather the irregularity of the trips. We are ready to receive Venezuelans wherever they are, whenever the possibility arises."
This group arriving from Texas via Honduras comes a week after 238 Venezuelans were deported by the United States to a terrorist detention center (Cecot) in El Salvador, an event President Nicolás Maduro denounced as a "kidnapping."
The pace of deportations, agreed upon following a visit to Caracas on January 31st by Richard Grenell, a special envoy of President Trump, was questioned by the US president. In retaliation, the United States revoked the license of its oil company Chevron to operate in Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government accused the US State Department of "obstructing" the repatriation flights.
Venezuela and the United States severed diplomatic relations in 2019 under the Trump administration, and the US imposed an oil embargo after deeming Maduro's first re-election in May 2018 fraudulent.
Washington also did not recognize Maduro's proclamation for a third term after the elections held on July 28, 2024. The opposition claimed fraud and asserted the victory of Edmundo González Urrutia, the former ambassador who has been in exile since September of last year.
"Kidnapped in El Salvador"
The United States claims that the Venezuelans transferred to El Salvador on March 16th belong to the notorious "Tren de Aragua" gang, which originated in Venezuela and was designated as a terrorist organization by President Trump. Caracas has denounced this as a campaign to criminalize migrants.
Since 2014, approximately eight million Venezuelans have crossed borders due to an 80% contraction of the economy (which began to recover in 2021) and hyperinflation that the Venezuelan government attributes to US sanctions.
The United States applied a 1798 law for the deportation of migrants to El Salvador, which allows for the expulsion of "enemy aliens" without trial, a law Caracas dismissed as "anachronistic."
President Trump denied ever signing the decree hours after Judge James Boasberg, who ordered the suspension of migrant deportations, described the implications of using the 1798 War Statute as "incredibly problematic."
Regarding future deportations, Minister Cabello stated, "We hope the next (US) call will be to release those kidnapped in El Salvador, and we await a response from the government of El Salvador."
On March 21st, the Trump administration announced it would terminate the legal status in the United States of approximately 532,000 Cubans, Haitians, Nicaraguans, and Venezuelans who arrived under a program initiated by his predecessor, Joe Biden.
Once the Department of Homeland Security order is published in the Federal Register, they will lose legal protection within 30 days.
Minister Cabello estimated that around 155,000 Venezuelans would be affected by this decision.
Including the group that arrived on Monday, approximately 1,119 Venezuelans have been repatriated since February, with at least 566 deported by the Trump administration and the rest transferred by the Venezuelan government after being stranded in Mexico en route to the United States.
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