Venezuela likely to receive US deportees after Trump envoy's visit

By Bloomberg News 

Venezuela is expected to permit the US to return deported migrants directly to the South American country after an adviser to President Donald Trump flew to Caracas for talks with the regime.  

In a meeting with Richard Grenell, Trump’s envoy for special missions, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro agreed to allow some flights of migrants who are from his country, people familiar with the matter said. A ban against such flights has been in place for almost a year. 

 

Trump said on Saturday that Maduro’s administration agreed to receive all undocumented Venezuelan migrants from the US, including members of the Tren de Aragua criminal group. “Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

 

 

If Maduro follows through, Trump would be able to claim a victory in his campaign to return undocumented migrants to their home countries. 

 

An agreement with Venezuela would open a path for his administration to deport hundreds of thousands of people back to a country that’s been a major source of migration to the US in recent years, because of its autocratic regime and dire economic struggles.

 

Still, a deal is likely to disappoint those who have advocated for a tougher stance against Maduro since strong evidence emerged that he stole the presidential election in July. Last month, Caracas-based human rights group Foro Penal counted 1,408 political prisoners in the country.

 

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who begins a Latin American trip this weekend, has questioned whether Chevron Corp.’s license to operate in Venezuela should continue to be renewed, and Trump had earlier referred to opposition leader Edmundo González as the rightful president-elect.

 

The Trump administration has been exploring various alternative destinations for Venezuelan deportees, including third countries that are willing to accept them. The US also plans to talk with the government of El Salvador about receiving and potentially jailing some deportees it accuses of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang, which originated in Venezuela, Bloomberg reported this week. 

While the plans for deportee flights weren’t made public Friday, Venezuelan and US officials confirmed that the Maduro regime had released six detained Americans following Grenell’s visit. Venezuela said the two sides talked about the imprisoned US citizens, sanctions and migration. 

 

Venezuela’s Information Ministry didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday morning. 

 

But in a late night address on state television, Maduro said his government had reached “initial agreements” with Grenell, during a “frank” and “positive” conversation. “When they get fulfilled, the path for new agreements will open up,” Maduro added.