 "In this photo provided by El Salvador's presidential press office, a prison guard transfers deportees from the U.S., alleged to be Venezuelan gang members, to the Terrorism Confinement Center in Tecoluca, El Salvador. AP")
Venezuelan officials announced the arrival on Sunday of a fresh flight of 175 migrants ejected by the US, including a gang leader – the first time Caracas has verified a criminal was among the deportees.
Since taking office in January, US President Donald Trump has initiated a crackdown on immigration, deporting hundreds of individuals to Latin America whom his government refers to as “gangsters.”
“For the first time, in these flights… someone of weight arrives who has been claimed by the Venezuelan justice system,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello stated.
The minister stated that the individual was “not from Tren de Aragua,” alluding to the Venezuelan gang that Washington has labelled a “foreign terrorist organisation” and alleges many of the deported Venezuelan migrants are members of.
Cabello received the migrants at the Maiquetia International Airport that serves Caracas.
“He belongs to a gang from Trujillo state, the gang… El Cagon,” Cabello added, without offering further details on the criminal’s identity.
Cabello said that of the migrants received by Venezuela so far, none were members of Tren de Aragua.
Venezuela and the United States broke off diplomatic relations in 2019, but had a rapprochement in January to agree on deportation flights.
That cooperation was interrupted for a month after Washington cracked down on Venezuela’s oil sector, but flights resumed a week ago.
Sunday’s flight was the third to land since the resumption.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIn total, 918 people have arrived in Venezuela after being deported from the United States. Another 553 migrants have returned from Mexico, although it was unclear whether they were originally deported from US soil.
On Saturday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said that 324 Venezuelan migrants had been sent by the United States to a maximum security prison in El Salvador, adding that no official list had been provided.
According to the United Nations, almost eight million Venezuelans have left their country fleeing an economic crisis that began to show signs of recovery in 2021.
The government claims that more than 1.2 million have returned.