Venezuela agreed to resume repatriation flights carrying deported nationals from the United States after an agreement between the two nations. The decision comes after a temporary halt imposed by Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro earlier this month.
Jorge Rodríguez, president of Venezuela’s national assembly and Maduro’s chief negotiator with the US, announced the decision on social media.
“We have agreed with the US government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday,” Rodríguez said. He added that the move aims to ensure “the return of our compatriots to their nation with the safeguard of their human rights.”
The repatriation programme was suspended on 8 March after the US treasury department revoked Chevron’s license to export Venezuelan oil. However, tensions appear to have eased, allowing flights to resume.
Rodríguez also criticised the deportation of approximately 250 Venezuelans to a high-security prison in El Salvador under US President Donald Trump’s administration.
“Migrating is not a crime and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who require it and until we rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador,” he said.
Later in the day, Maduro reaffirmed the government’s commitment to repatriation during a public event.
“We are resuming flights to rescue and release migrants from US prisons,” he declared, while holding El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele responsible for the well-being of the deported Venezuelans.
“You guarantee their health, and sooner rather than later, you have to hand them over and release them, because they are kidnapped,” Maduro said.
Trump’s administration had claimed that the deported individuals were members of Tren de Aragua, a notorious Venezuelan criminal gang. On 15 March, Trump invoked the Alien Enemies Act, an 18th-century law allowing the deportation of non-citizens during wartime, labelling the gang an “invading force.”
However, a federal judge temporarily blocked the deportations while some flights were already in transit.
The United States department of homeland security (DHS) announced revocation of legal safeguards for around 532,000 individuals from Cuba, Haiti, Nicaragua, and Venezuela, who have been in the US since October 2022.
These immigrants, who entered America with financial sponsors and received two-year residency and work permits, will lose their legal status on April 24, or 30 days after the Federal Register publishes the notice.
The US department of state has designated Tren de Aragua a foreign terrorist organisation. The gang originated in Venezuelan prisons and spread as millions of Venezuelans fled the country’s economic collapse.
Despite Trump’s claims, his administration has yet to provide evidence linking the deportees to the gang or proving they committed crimes in the US.