Venezuela on Tuesday said deportation flights operated by the United States would continue as scheduled, despite President Donald Trump recently asserting that Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed. The announcement from President Nicolás Maduro’s government came after what it said was a formal request from the Trump administration to maintain the twice-weekly repatriation flights.The clarification reverses a statement made by Caracas over the weekend alleging that US immigration authorities had unilaterally halted the flights. Venezuela’s foreign ministry also made public an overflight and landing application filed on Monday by US-based Eastern Airlines seeking approval for a Boeing 777-200 service from Phoenix, Arizona, to Maiquetía International Airport on Wednesday.
Venezuelan nationals have been steadily deported this year after Maduro, under pressure from Washington, dropped his long-standing policy of refusing to accept deportees. The government has framed the inflow – more than 13,000 people so far – as a “repatriation” from difficult conditions in US detention facilities. Charter flights operated by a US government contractor and by Venezuela’s state airline continue to land near Caracas, with the latest arriving Friday.The bilateral repatriation deal has been criticised by human rights groups, though Trump officials have said the flights form part of a broader strategy to weaken transnational criminal organisations. The flights have continued even as the US carries out targeted military strikes on vessels suspected of drug smuggling in the eastern Pacific and the Caribbean waters off Venezuela.Officials say strikes and deportation flights together aim to disrupt groups such as Tren de Aragua, linked to violent crime and drug trafficking across the region. The Trump administration has also claimed that some drug cartels are backed by Maduro. On Tuesday, Trump suggested the US could soon carry out land-based strikes and hinted that countries beyond Venezuela could be targeted, mentioning Colombia.“You know, the land is much easier, much easier… We know where the bad ones live. And we’re going to start that very soon too,” he said during a Cabinet meeting. Later clarifying, he said his remarks referred to producers of fentanyl or cocaine. “Anybody that’s doing that and selling it into our country is subject to attack,” he said, adding, “Not just Venezuela.”The comments came as lawmakers from both parties called for inquiries into whether a recent follow-up strike on a suspected drug boat may have violated international law.
