First flight of deported Venezuelan migrants arrives in Caracas after Maduro’s capture

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A flight with 231 Venezuelan migrants deported from the U.S. city of Phoenix arrived Friday to their home country, nearly two weeks after the United States captured former President Nicolás Maduro and took him to New York to face drug trafficking charges.

The Eastern Airlines plane arrived at an airport outside the capital, Caracas, marking the resumption of flights after Washington — according to Venezuelan officials — unilaterally suspended direct deportation air transfers in mid-December. The previous direct flight from the U.S. was on Dec. 10.

Return flights for deported migrants had been regularized since late March as part of the transfers agreed upon by both governments.

The transfers were successively affected amid heightened tensions since U.S. military forces began to execute a series of deadly attacks against boats suspected of smuggling drugs in international waters of the Caribbean and Pacific Ocean, including several vessels that they claim departed from Venezuela.

Maduro maintained at all times that U.S. President Donald Trump could order military action to try to overthrow him.

The flight’s arrival comes 13 days after Maduro was captured along with his wife, Cilia Flores, during a military intervention in Caracas. Subsequently, he was transferred to U.S. territory, where both appeared on Jan. 5 before a New York court to face narcoterrorism charges. Both have pleaded not-guilty.

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