Venezuela and US Reach Deal to Resume Migrant Repatriation Flights

Venezuela has agreed to resume repatriation flights of migrants from the United States, following a two-week standoff over recent deportations. President Nicolás Maduro confirmed on Saturday that the flights would begin on Sunday, stating, “Tomorrow, thanks to the government’s perseverance, we’ll resume flights to continue rescuing and freeing migrants from prisons in the United States,” according to Reuters.

This agreement comes after a brief pause in deportations after Venezuela objected to the US about sending Venezuelan migrants to El Salvador’s prisons. The Trump administration had claimed that many deported were linked to the Tren de Aragua gang, a designation Venezuela disputes.

The news outlet reported that Venezuela’s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, welcomed the first group of 199 deportees back in Caracas. “Flights are resuming,” Cabello said. “We are ready to receive Venezuelans wherever they are.”

Relations between the US and Venezuela have been tense, particularly after the US did not recognise Maduro’s re-election to a third six-year term last year, following allegations of electoral fraud.

By 2022, an estimated 275,000 Venezuelan migrants were living in the US without authorisation, according to the Pew Research Centre.