Venezuela has agreed to resume accepting deportation flights from the U.S. after briefly refusing to accept such flights after President Donald Trump canceled the energy giant Chevron’s license to operate in the South American country.
“I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered the U.S. illegally,” Ric Grenell, President Donald Trump’s envoy for special missions, announced Thursday morning.
I am pleased to announce that Venezuela has agreed to resume flights to pick up their citizens who broke U.S. Immigration Laws and entered the U.S. illegally.
The flights will resume Friday.
— Richard Grenell (@RichardGrenell) March 13, 2025
“The flights will resume Friday,” Grenell added.
On Monday, Venezuela announced it would immediately stop receiving deportees from the U.S. in retaliation against Trump’s February 26 announcement in which he said the U.S. Treasury Department would be revoking Chevron’s license to operate in Venezuela and giving the energy giant 30 days to wind down operations in the country.
Chevron was issued a license by the Biden administration in November 2022 to permit the corporation’s joint ventures with Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (PdVSA), Venezuela’s state-owned oil and natural gas company, or any entity owned 50 percent or more by PdVSA, whether directly or indirectly, to operate in the South American country.
“We are hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022,” Trump said in a Trust Social post.
On March 4, the Treasury Department gave the official notice to Chevron announcing the revocation of its license and a 30-day window to wind down its crude oil production and exports in Venezuela.
Grenell’s announcement of Venezuela’s resumption of accepting deportation flights from the U.S. comes more than one month after he met with Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro and secured the safe release of six Americans that were being held hostage in the South American country.
Venezuela also agreed at the time to accept back all Venezuelan illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua, and supply the necessary transportation to facilitate such removals.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
