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US, Venezuela get into diplomatic clash over deportation flights
The war of words came as an aircraft carrying deported Venezuelans touched down in Venezuela after departing from Mexico.
United States and Venezuela got into a diplomatic spat between on Thursday over deportations as the US government denied Venezuela's claims of repatriation flights from Mexico, while the latter accused Washington of blocking them.
The war of words came as an aircraft carrying deported Venezuelans touched down in Venezuela after departing from Mexico, in what appeared to be part of US President Donald Trump's push to rapidly expel migrants, according to a Reuters report.
Earlier in the day, 311 Venezuelans who had been in the United States were flown from Mexico to Caracas. However, the US Department of State's Western Hemisphere office accused President Nicolás Maduro's government of lying about the flights.
"Despite media reports, repatriation flights to Venezuela via Mexico are not taking place today. Maduro must stop misleading and schedule consistent, weekly repatriation flights," read a US government post on social media.
The post, which was published just minutes before the plane landed, did not mention the flight that had arrived in the Venezuelan capital.
Venezuela accuses US of ‘obstructing process’
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced that Thursday’s flight brought the total number of recently deported Venezuelan migrants to 920, according to state television. Cabello, a close ally of Maduro, stated that the flight was the result of a "direct agreement with the Mexican government," though he provided no further details.
Jorge Rodriguez, the head of Venezuela's Congress, claimed that the country was ready to resume direct flights from the United States, but he accused US officials of obstructing the process.
"We have everything in place to resume flights... The only thing preventing these flights is the US State Department," Rodriguez told state-run TV.
Meanwhile, the United States deported over 200 suspected members of the Venezuelan Tren de Aragua gang to El Salvador last weekend. The deportees are being held in a controversial prison facility, despite a US judge questioning the legality of the process.
