The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, during a press conference on March 17. Photo: National Assembly.
Guacamaya, March 22, 2025. Jorge Rodríguez announced in a social media statement that repatriation flights from the United States will resume starting March 23.
Previously, a flight from El Paso, Texas, to Caracas had been scheduled for March 14, but it was suspended due to bad weather, according to Rodríguez and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. That flight had initially been announced by Donald Trump’s presidential envoy for special missions, Richard Grenell.
Rodríguez, who is not only the president of the National Assembly but also Caracas’ representative for talks with the White House, announced the resumption of flights via his Instagram account, signing off as the “designated representative for peace dialogues by the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.”
Following the suspension of the March 14 flight, the Trump administration invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798, citing an invasion by the “megagang” Tren de Aragua and linking it to the Venezuelan government. As a result of this measure, Washington sent 238 Venezuelan migrants to the CECOT prisons in El Salvador, accusing them of being part of the criminal group.
The Alien Enemies Act, rarely used and exclusively for wartime, allows for the arrest and deportation of citizens from a particular country without due process.
On Friday, the U.S. president stated that he had not signed the invocation of this law, but that it had been handled by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
After the deportations to El Salvador, Rodríguez held a press conference on March 17. He declared that the government of Nicolás Maduro would do everything possible to rescue its nationals detained in El Salvador. He also mentioned that a travel advisory against traveling to the U.S. would be issued, claiming that it is not safe for Venezuelan citizens.
On March 20, a flight under the “Plan Vuelta a la Patria” from Mexico to Venezuela was successfully carried out. Simultaneously, the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs posted on social media that the flight was not taking place, stating that “as expected, Nicolás Maduro and his henchmen continue to lie.”
A Conviasa plane arriving from Mexico with over 300 repatriates did land at Maiquetía International Airport that day. The State Department did not respond to Guacamaya’s inquiries about this flight.
