An Eastern Airlines plane carrying 231 Venezuelan migrants deported from the US city of Phoenix landed in Venezuela on Friday, nearly two weeks after former President Nicolás Maduro was captured by US authorities and flown to New York to face drug-trafficking charges.
The plane landed at an airport near the capital Caracas, signaling the resumption of deportation flights after Washington, according to Venezuelan officials — who unilaterally halted direct air transfers in mid-December, according to the AP. The last such direct flight from the United States took place on December 10.
Return flights for deported migrants have been legalized since the end of March as part of transfer agreements struck by the two governments.
But the process has been repeatedly disrupted as tensions escalated after US military forces launched a series of deadly operations against ships suspected of smuggling drugs in international Caribbean and Pacific waters, including several vessels the United States said had sailed from Venezuela.
Trump has made a tough stance on illegal immigration a centerpiece of his second term, overseeing large-scale immigration raids and migrant deportations.
Maduro has also consistently argued that Trump may order military action aimed at ousting him.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Friday that her country was beginning a “real transition” to democracy and that Venezuela would liberate itself with the support of the United States and Trump.
But Trump sidelined Nobel laureate Machado and instead endorsed former vice president Delcy Rodriguez as the oil-rich nation’s interim leader following the Jan. 3 U.S. military operation that captured President Nicolás Maduro.
“We are definitely now at the first steps of a real transition to democracy,” Machado said at an event in Washington, adding that it would have a “huge impact on the lives of all Venezuelans” as well as across the region and the world.
“Venezuela will be free and this will be achieved with the support of the people of the United States and President Donald Trump,” she said.
Her party has provided evidence that Maduro stole the 2024 elections – claims supported by Washington and much of the international community.
Trump, however, said Machado lacked sufficient support among Venezuelans and decided to back Rodriguez if she secured US access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves. Machado said Friday that Rodriguez was “following orders” rather than acting independently.
Machado’s words came a day after US Central Intelligence Agency chief John Ratcliffe met Rodriguez in Caracas. According to an AFP report, according to a US administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity, Ratcliffe visited Venezuela to “convey the message that the United States is looking forward to better working relations.”
