(Reuters) -Two planes carrying Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States – the first since a January deal between the administration of U.S. Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro – are heading to Venezuela, the South American country’s government said on Monday.
The flights, run by Venezuelan airline Conviasa, are part of a plan to repatriate thousands of migrants who fled Venezuela “because of economic sanctions and the campaigns of psychological warfare against our country,” the government statement said.
Some of the people on the flight are allegedly involved in illegal activities with the Tren de Aragua gang, the statement said, and will be vigorously investigated for criminal ties.
Trump envoy Richard Grenell met with Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 31, where the two men discussed migration and sanctions, among other issues. Grenell left the South American country with six Americans who had been held by Venezuelan authorities.
The Trump administration has said it is a priority to deport members of Tren de Aragua from the U.S. and Trump himself said after Grenell’s visit that Maduro agreed to receive all Venezuelan illegal migrants and provide for their transportation back home.
The Venezuelan government says it destroyed Tren de Aragua within its borders in 2023.
Trump’s administration has also moved to remove deportation protection from about 348,000 Venezuelans in the U.S., who could lose work permits and then be deported in April.
More than 7 million Venezuelan migrants have left their country in recent years amid a sustained economic and social collapse blamed by the government on sanctions by the United States and others.
Maduro and several allies have been indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges and international observers and the country’s opposition say a July election which gave Maduro his third term was fraudulent.
(Reporting by Reuters)
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