2 weeks Ago By Antonio Maria Delgado - Miami Herald (TNS)
Two jetliners sent by Venezuela to the United States were headed back to the South American country Monday carrying the first group of deported migrants in accord with the recently reached agreement with the Donald Trump administration, the Caracas regime said. U.S.
officials notified their Venezuelans counterparts that some of the Venezuelans deported included members of the Tren de Aragua criminal gang. “As appropriate, the aforementioned individuals will be subject to a rigorous investigation as soon as they touch Venezuelan soil and will be subject to the actions provided for in our justice system,” the Venezuelan government said in a press release. The planes, two Brazilian-made Embraer 190s belonging to the Venezuelan flag carrier Conviasa, have a capacity of 96 passengers each and had initially made a stopover in Cancun, Mexico, before landing at Biggs Army Airfield in El Paso, Texas.
The planes were sent under Venezuela’s “Return to the Homeland“ program, which the regime said is designed to bring back thousands of Venezuelans forced to leave the country as a result of the “economic sanctions and psychological war” launched against the country. The flights, which took place much earlier than previously announced, followed a meeting held in Caracas on Jan. 31 between strongman Nicolás Maduro and Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell.
The meeting has been described by the Venezuelan regime as the beginning of a new chapter in the relations between the two countries. In his return flight from Caracas, Grenell brought with him six Americans that had been imprisoned in Venezuela. The following day President Donald Trump announced that Maduro had agreed to accept back all Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States.
In its press release, the Venezuelan government said that during the meeting in Caracas Grenell had been informed that there is a “false and malicious narrative” surrounding the Tren de Aragua gang, but said that it had been created by members of the media and officials of the Biden administration to create a stigma surrounding the migrants and the Venezuelan government. ©2025 Miami Herald. Visit miamiherald.
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