Deportation flights to Venezuela were resumed on Sunday after a week -long distance between the Trump administration And the Venezuelan government, which indicated a deal between the two countries.
A flight with 199 illegal aliens – including members of the violent Aragua Train (TDA) gang – To Venezuela landed on Sunday, the Ministry of Interior Security (DHS) confirmed to Fox News Digital.
The Trump government has sworn to close a deal with the Venezuelan government to accept flights that deportees bear from the United States, but is limited in the regularity of the transfers President Nicholás Maduro The flights stopped earlier this month – with only four flights received by the Venezuelan government since Trump was sworn in.
Venezuela to resume by accepting the US deportation flights
Venezuelan migrants flowed a ladder from Guantanamo Bay via Honduras after arriving at a deportation flight on Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiqetia, La Guaira State, Venezuela, 20 February 2025. (Reuters/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
Maduro refused to receive the flights after Trump announced that the US would terminate the permit for Biden era so that Chevron Venezuelan oil could export, so that an important source of income for the country was effectively concluded.
Venezuelan officials, however, have confirmed that A deal has been reached On Saturday.
“Venezuela reports that, within the framework of return to the Homeland plan and with the aim of bringing our countrymen back to their nation with the protection of their human rights, we have agreed with the US government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with a first flight tomorrow, Sunday 23 Venezuela’s meeting and the main negotiator at the US, said in A statement posted on X By the TELESUR Network.
Flight data Shows a plane managed by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) left El Paso and was planned to land on Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras on Sunday afternoon. A second aircraft operated by the Venezuelan Staats airline Conviasa would land within one hour of the arrival of ICE on the air base, apparently for a transfer between civil servants.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro focuses supporters during an event to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the social uprising that is known as ‘Caracazo’, of which the deceased President Hugo Chavez said that the start of his revolution in Caracas, Venezuela was 27 February 2025. (Reuters/Maxwell Briceno)
The deal comes after the State Secretary Marco Rubio has sworn that Venezuela would be ‘serious and escalating sanctions’ if the country would refuse to accept his citizens who had had to deal with deportation.
“Venezuela is obliged to accept his repatriated citizens of the US. This is not a matter of debate or negotiation,” Rubio posted on X. “Neither the only reward deserves. Unless the Maduro regime accepts a consistent stream of deportation flights, without further apologies or delays, the vs will”
The Trump administration did not immediately respond to FOX News Digital’s request for comments.
In recent weeks, around 350 migrants have been deported to Venezuela, including around 180 people who were held on the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
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President Donald Trump is organizing his first cabinet meeting while he is sitting next to State Secretary Marco Rubio in Washington, DC on February 26, 2025. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)
Last week the Trump government flew more than 200 Venezuelan migrants to a high-protected prison in El Salvador in coordination with President Nayib Bukele, despite the order of a federal court who temporarily blocked the deportations.
“Migrating is not a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who need it and until we save our brothers who are kidnapped in El Salvador,” said Rodríguez.
Madura also exposed the flights, referring to the Venezuelans who were held on Saturday in El Salvador as “abducted”.
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In an interview with Fox News Radio, Rubio Bukele thanked the acceptance of migrants through his country.
“Venezuela should take them, but they refuse to take them,” said Rubio. “And so we are lucky to have a friend Bukele who, as part of my meeting with him, said we will take them for a fraction of what it costs to accommodate them in your own prison system.”
Louis Casiano and otherwise from Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
