Venezuelan migrants deported by the US government arriving in Venezuela, where they are received with dignity. Maiquetia, La Guaira state, Friday, March 28, 2025. Photo: Con el Mazo Dando.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—A new group of 178 Venezuelans arrived in Venezuela early Friday morning after being deported from the United States via Honduras. The group—composed of 165 men and 13 women—was received by Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, who emphasized that none of those repatriated through the Return to the Homeland Program have any ties to the Aragua Train criminal gang.
However, Cabello warned that anyone returning to Venezuela with pending legal issues will face justice. “We hand them over to the authorities and the Venezuelan Judicial System to continue their trials. We do not cover up anyone’s crimes, but we won’t condemn people preemptively just because the US government is making mistakes,” he declared.
Cabello condemned the US government’s “mess” regarding deportees’ identities and criminal records. “There is no order in who they are sending. They even expected us to claim they are all from the Aragua Train, as they falsely allege. We demanded clarity, but instead of 223 migrants, only 178 arrived,” he said.
He also condemned complaints made by migrants themselves, reporting that they were shackled and denied food for three days before arriving in Honduras for deportation. “That’s torture,” Cabello stated.
“Manipulated and stigmatized” by imperialism
Cabello accused the US and Venezuela’s far-right opposition of manipulating migrants through sanctions and then stigmatizing them as criminals. “Venezuelans were forced to flee due to imperialism’s brutal sanctions. Now, after being tricked into crossing the Darién Gap, they are persecuted as delinquents by the same opposition leaders who plotted to make them leave!” he said.
He dismissed US Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s claims about deportees’ ties to the Aragua Train as “absurd.” “The Aragua Train never even expanded beyond Aragua state here in Venezuela. How could a group confined to one state ‘invade’ other countries? Rubio’s lies are ridiculous!”
The Masterminds Behind the Criminalization of Venezuelan Migrants
Fabricated “crime wave” to smear repatriates
This Friday, during an appearance on the podcast Sin Truco Ni Maña, Cabello warned of a coordinated campaign in Venezuela to blame deportees for imaginary crimes. “Far-right sectors are spreading rumors about robberies increasing in neighborhoods without a shred of evidence, just to scapegoat those returning. They say, ‘We don’t want them here,’ but this is pure fascism!”
He singled out opposition figure María Corina Machado, accusing her of “fascist joy” in attacking Venezuelans. “This is a smear campaign against our nationality. The opposition’s spokespeople are obsessed with labeling our people as criminals to please their imperialist masters,” he added.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SF
