After the decision of President Donald Trump to end the license that allowed the oil company Chevron to operate on Venezuelan soil, deportation flights from the US to Venezuela are “affected,” said ruler Nicolás Maduro.
Flights with irregular Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States to Venezuela are “affected” after the decision of President Donald Trump to revoke the license that allowed the oil company Chevron to operate on Venezuelan soil, said ruler Nicolás Maduro.
“Imperialism made some decisions and shot themselves, they sanctioned an American company, Chevron, who is 100 years here,” Maduro said on Saturday in a transmission of the VTV state channel.
“They have damaged the communications that we had opened, I was already interested (…) because I wanted to bring all the Venezuelans who have unjustly prisoners and persecuted just for being migrants.”Nicolás Maduro, ruler of Venezuela.
The US Department of the Treasury reported on Tuesday, March 4 that Chevron or its subsidiaries They will have until April 3 to cease operations In Venezuela.
Maduro said that this decision of the US administration damaged the communication channel that Caracas and Washington – with years of disagreements – had opened.
The United States and Venezuela broke relations in 2019.
“Now we have a problem there, because with what they did they have damaged the communications we had opened, I was already interested in the communications we had opened, because I wanted to bring myself to all Venezuelans who have prisoners and persecuted unfairly only for being migrants (…) We were prepared,” Maduro continued.
These flights were suspended for years, with a pause in 2023, and were resumed after the visit of Trump's envoy, Richard Grennell, to Caracas, at the beginning of February.
At that meeting, as announced, Venezuela agreed to receive all irregular Venezuelan immigrants detained in the United States.
More than 7.7 million people have left Venezuela fleeing from the economic and humanitarian crisis in search of a better life, according to UNHCR data.
“It affected the trips”
The decision to put an end to Chevron's operations in Venezuela “affected the trips that we already had scheduled with our planes to bring our migrant brothers and give it a love hug,” said Maduro's government.
The US administration had previously said that the reason to reverse licenses to Venezuelan oil lies precisely that Venezuela did not comply with “receiving irregular migrants deported to the fast pace they had agreed.”
Since Trump assumed the position, on January 20, three groups of irregular migrants were deported to Venezuela from the United States, Mexico and Honduras, for a total of 609 people.
Three flights
On February 10, Venezuela arrived in Venezuela First group of 190 migrants Irregular Venezuelans deported from El Paso, Texas.
Days later, on February 20, a second flight landed with 177 migrants that I was arrested at the Guantanamo Naval Base. In this case, the Minister of Interior and Justice of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, said that 8 of them are in the order of justice for “serious” crimes, specifically homicide.
Four days later, the third flight with 242 Venezuelans arrived in Venezuela, the first with women and children; from Mexico.
On that occasion, Cabello, he indicated that he did not know if the group was sent from the US to Mexican territory or if they were already there.
“Lack of empathy”
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, said Sunday that he will not receive deportees from other countries, referring to Maduro's decision.
“It is miserable and an absolute lack of empathy that a government rejects its own people. Thus the authoritarian and extremist regimes act, regardless of the fate of those who flee from the crisis, ”he wrote in X.
Noboa acknowledges the opponent of Edmundo González as elected president of Venezuela, who has been in exile since September last year.