Ground staff directs a Conviasa plane at Simón Bolívar International Airport, Venezuela. File photo.
On Wednesday, the US Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) granted a license to the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa and its subsidiaries to repatriate Venezuelans who are in the United States, through the Vuelta a la Patria Plan (Return to the Homeland).
Conviasa received the authorization through OFAC General License No. 45, which allows all incidental and necessary transactions for the repatriation of Venezuelan citizens from countries in the western hemisphere in addition to the US.
The license specifies that the Venezuelan national airline may fly to and refuel in all countries in the western hemisphere, without the restrictions previously imposed by the US.
The president of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, announced the beginning of the flights of the Vuelta a la Patria plan from the US.
On Wednesday, October, 18, the first group of Venezuelans repatriated with the Vuelta a la Patria Plan arrived in Venezuela from the US. President Maduro announced that this was part of Migration Agreement recently discussed and signed by the authorities of the Venezuela and the United States.
#ULTIMOMINUTO | Se ha publicado una licencia para que la empresa Conviasa pueda tener servicios y realizar transacciones en materia de repatriación de hermanas o hermanos venezolanos desde cualquier parte de América.
Igualmente, se autorizan todas las transacciones de la… pic.twitter.com/SqJOPg8iTr
— Prensa Presidencial (@PresidencialVen) October 19, 2023
“The great majority of them were detained for three months in Migrant Detention Centers,” President Maduro reported. “We have received them here; they are undergoing medical and psychological treatment.”
He added that these humanitarian flights will be carried out on a weekly basis.
On Wednesday afternoon, the first flight carrying migrants from the United States arrived in Venezuela after the US Department of Transportation issued the “emergency exception” allowing the flights.
El Departamento del Tesoro de los EE.UU ha levantado sanciones destinadas al petróleo, al gas y a la aerolínea estatal Conviasa. Venezuela rechaza de forma unánime las medidas coercitivas unilaterales. ¡Seguiremos apostando al diálogo para un país libre de sanciones! pic.twitter.com/rpV7mdqlVp
— Jorge Rodríguez (@jorgerpsuv) October 19, 2023
The plane landed at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía at 4:26 pm local time. The Bolivarian Intelligence Service, National Police, and National Guard were waiting outside the airport to receive the repatriated Venezuelans.
This group consisted of 130 Venezuelan women and men. It did not include families with children.
In February 2020, the OFAC included Conviasa in the list of sanctions and sanctioned 40 airplanes operated by the airline.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
