On February 10, the government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela announced the return of the first Venezuelan migrants since the inauguration of Donald Trump and the kick-off of his anti-immigrant mass deportation policy.
The arrival of the 190 deported migrants to Venezuela, was achieved through an agreement reached in a meeting held on January 31 between Nicolás Maduro and Richard Grenell, special envoy of the Trump government.
Among other things, the Venezuelan government assured the US that it would receive the deportees if they are treated “with absolute respect for their dignity and human rights.” Questions have arisen in recent weeks about the fate of Venezuelan deportees due to the US government’s non-recognition of the government of Nicolás Maduro. The announcement that the US will seek to detain migrants in Guatemala and Guantánamo Bay Naval Base has added to this uncertainty, with the Trump administration withholding details about who will be sent to third-country detention centers and why.
The Maduro-Grenell meeting appears to have resolved some of those questions, with the Venezuelan head of state proposing an “Agenda Zero,” between the two nations, seeking to reestablish diplomatic relations with the United States, based on respect for self-determination. “Venezuela ratifies, within the framework of our Bolivarian diplomacy of peace, its disposition to maintain direct relations of communication, respect and understanding,” stated the government of Maduro.
Thousands of Venezuelans migrated due to economic sanctions, says government
The Chavista government announced that these flights are part of a plan called “Return to the Homeland.” This plan aims to facilitate the safe return of migrants and deportees to Venezuela and facilitate their positive reinsertion into the national economy.
In an official communiqué, the government of Maduro affirmed that “at this moment two airplanes belonging to our airline Conviasa, which were sent to the United States of America within the framework of the ‘Return to the Homeland’ plan to transport Venezuelan migrant compatriots back to our territory, are heading towards Venezuelan soil.”
Regarding the “Return to the Homeland” plan, the communiqué informs that it seeks to “repatriate, from different parts of the world, thousands of Venezuelans who migrated due to the economic sanctions and the psychological warfare campaigns against our country.”
Maduro’s response to sanctions and repatriation efforts
The government of Nicolás Maduro argues that many of those now deported decided to migrate because of the severe crisis the country has been going through due to the “economic sanctions” imposed on Venezuela by the United States and its allies. Therefore, at the last ALBA-TCP Extraordinary Meeting, the Venezuelan president announced the creation of a fund in the ALBA Bank to support the safe return of deported migrants and their reintegration into the economy of the countries.
In this regard, Maduro said “We demand respect for their human rights and compliance with international standards.” In addition, Maduro said that migrants “will be given all health care, humanistic treatment. This is everyone’s homeland, here are your brothers and sisters…We want to build relations of respect and understanding with the US, and the Return to the Homeland Plan assumes all Venezuelans who wish to return.”
Upon their arrival, the deportees were welcomed by Diosdado Cabello, Secretary of Interior and Justice, while the Venezuelan national anthem was sung. Cabello declared to the press, “I have conveyed to them that this effort has to do with them returning to their country to work for Venezuela, to build this homeland. I believe that the ‘Plan Return to the Homeland,’ which, according to the authorities, so far, has allowed the return of 900,000 people to Venezuela, has become a reality.”
