Venezuela accepts deportation flights from US, Mexico
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Venezuela accepts US and Mexican deportation flights with 570 returnees, despite Trump’s recent airspace closure declaration.
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A COPA Airlines plane taxis at Simon Bolivar International Airport in Maiquetia, Venezuela, on December 1, 2025. (AP)
Venezuela has received multiple flights carrying deported citizens from both the United States and Mexico, landing at Maiquetia's Simon Bolivar International Airport, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil announced Wednesday.
"This was a request from the United States government — a request for an aircraft with US registration to cross airspace and land at Simon Bolivar International Airport, bringing our compatriots," Gil said.
A total of 570 Venezuelans, including over 140 children, were repatriated. 304 arrived on a Conviasa flight from Mexico, while the rest came via a commercial flight from the US.
On November 29, US President Donald Trump declared Venezuelan airspace closed to all aircraft, a move Venezuela condemned as a threat of force and referred to the UN and ICAO for international scrutiny.
On Tuesday, Venezuela’s civil aviation authority received a formal request from the United States to restart flights returning Venezuelan migrants from US territory, even as Washington moves to pressure airlines into avoiding the country’s airspace.
According to a statement cited by state broadcaster VTV, Venezuelan authorities confirmed that they had been contacted by US counterparts regarding the “resumption of flights for Venezuelan migrants from the United States to Venezuela.”
Washington has intensified its deportation machinery, pushing rapid removals of Venezuelan nationals while ignoring the structural causes of displacement created by its own sanctions.
