Venezuelan migrants flown from Guantanamo Bay via Honduras walk up a ladder after arriving on a deportation flight at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, La Guaira State, Venezuela, February 20, 2025. (REUTERS/Leonardo Fernandez Viloria)
Maduro refused to receive the flights after Trump announced that the U.S. would terminate the Biden-era permit allowing Chevron to export Venezuelan oil, effectively closing off a major revenue source for the country.
However, Venezuelan officials have confirmed that a deal was reached on Saturday.
"Venezuela reports that, within the framework of the Return to the Homeland Plan and with the goal of returning our compatriots to their nation with the safeguarding of their human rights, we have agreed with the U.S. government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with an initial flight tomorrow, Sunday, March 23," Jorge Rodríguez, the president of Venezuela's Assembly and chief negotiator with the U.S., said in a statement posted to X by the network Telesur.
Flight-tracking data shows a plane operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) departed El Paso and was scheduled to land at Soto Cano air base in Honduras Sunday afternoon. A second plane operated by Venezuelan state airline Conviasa was set to land at the air base within an hour of ICE's arrival, seemingly for a handoff between officials.
President Donald Trump hosts his first cabinet meeting as he sits next to Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Washington, D.C. on February 26, 2025. (REUTERS/Brian Snyder)
Last week, the Trump administration flew over 200 Venezuelan migrants to a high-security prison in El Salvador in coordination with President Nayib Bukele, despite a federal judge’s order temporarily blocking the deportations.
"Migrating is not a crime, and we will not rest until we achieve the return of all those who require it and until we rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador," Rodríguez said.
Madura also went on to denounce the flights, referring to the Venezuelans being detained in El Salvador as "kidnapped" on Saturday.
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In an interview with Fox News Radio, Rubio thanked Bukele for his country’s acceptance of the migrants.
"Venezuela should be taking them, but they refuse to take them," Rubio said. "And so, we are fortunate to have a friend like President Bukele who, as part of my meeting with him, said we will take them for a fraction of what it costs you guys to house them in your own prison system."
Fox News Digital's Louis Casiano and Anders Hagstrom contributed to this report.
Julia Bonavita is a U.S. Writer for Fox News Digital and a Fox Flight Team drone pilot. You can follow her at @juliabonavita13 on all platforms and send story tips to julia.bonavita@fox.com.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/us-deportation-flights-venezuela-resume-following-weeks-long-standoff