The United States has sent 177 deported Venezuelan migrants from the Washington-controlled military base in Guantanamo to Venezuela.
The US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed it transported the Venezuelans to Honduras on Thursday.
Venezuelan authorities took custody of the deportees from Soto Cano – a joint US-Honduras military airbase – before flying them to Caracas on a flag carrier Conviasa flight.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello was at the airport when the plane landed, and boarded the aircraft to welcome the arrivals.
President Nicolas Maduro said the handover was the result of a “direct request” from his government to the US and added that his countrymen were “rescued”.
A spokesperson from the Department of Homeland Security said among those released were 126 individuals with criminal charges or convictions, out of which 80 were allegedly affiliated with Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal organisation. The remaining 51 had no criminal history.
Cabello said in a televised statement that all 177 would undergo health checks before any pending criminal charges would continue in Venezuelan courts.
Following this transfer on Thursday, no more migrant detainees remain at the naval base, the spokesperson said.
However, The Associated Press reported, quoting Thomas Cartwright of Witness at the Border, an advocacy group that tracks deportation flights, that more immigrant transfer flights arrived in Guantanamo Bay on Thursday.
According to Cartwright, the flights originated from Texas and Louisiana.
The deportation took place after the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit seeking access to dozens of migrants held at Guantanamo Bay – an establishment riddled with allegations of injustice and abuse following the September 11, 2001 attacks – claiming they were being denied lawyers.
In a court filing on Thursday, US authorities said Venezuela had historically resisted accepting the repatriation of its citizens but had changed its stance after “high-level political discussions and an investment of significant resources”.
Last week, Venezuela sent two planes to the US which returned some 190 Venezuelan deportees home, indicating improving relations between both countries after the US accused President Maduro of stealing an election.
