Maduro insists a Venezuelan airline evacuate Americans, a ‘non-starter’ in Washington
Trump administration officials have been negotiating for months with the regime of embattled Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro over the release of American citizens stuck in the country, a process that was given renewed urgency at the outset of the coronavirus pandemic, several sources told McClatchy on Friday.
But State Department offers to organize direct, private flights from Caracas to the United States, or through third-party countries such as Spain and Mexico, have been rebuffed by Maduro, who has insisted on using Conviasa, a Venezuelan airline sanctioned by Washington.
Two sources involved in the negotiations confirmed to McClatchy that the use of Conviasa for the transport of Americans – and for the repatriation of Venezuelans stranded in the United States back to Venezuela – has been a “non-starter” for the Trump administration.
Venezuela, whose health system has buckled under the nation’s economic collapse, is poorly positioned to address the health crisis caused by COVID-19. Most of its hospitals face problems with water, electricity and medical supplies, and the country has just over 300 respirators.
A senior administration official confirmed to McClatchy that roughly 800 U.S. citizens have requested help leaving Venezuela. “We continue to make many diplomatic efforts to return them to the United States,” the official said.
The United States and more than 50 countries recognize Juan Guaidó, president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, as the legitimate interim president of Venezuela, based on a constitutional provision detailing his role.
Carlos Vecchio, chargé d’affaires of the Guaidó government to the United States, said in an interview that the Guaidó team has been working with the Trump administration in an attempt to organize the flights.
“With the help of the United States, we have been able to secure two airplanes that would transport those stranded out of Miami free of charge to Mexico and then to Venezuela, but the Maduro regime won’t allow them to land,” Vecchio said. “We have also spoken with the private airline companies that were willing to use the expired plane tickets that they had purchased but were not able to use, but again the regime, by closing down the airports and not allowing the planes to land, they can’t fly back to Venezuela.”
The Maduro government is claiming in the negotiations that it has already provided a solution, Vecchio said, bringing talks to an impasse. Jorge Arreaza, Maduro’s foreign minister, confirmed Thursday on Twitter that his government had offered to repatriate U.S. citizens using Conviasa aircraft.
Maduro officials “are saying we are willing to allow Conviasa to flight to the United States and take back the Americans and return with the Venezuelans stranded. But that is a false offer because they know that Conviasa has been sanctioned for illegally trafficking with gold, it has been sanctioned for transporting terrorists. So this is not a real proposal seeking a solution,” Vecchio added.
“They have already been provided the solution, because we have already told them that we have been able to secure free flights and the airline companies are willing to accept expired airplanes tickets – so why do they keep insisting on Conviasa, which is a non-starter?”
A U.S. government official said that the Trump administration has tried “dozens” of avenues to securing the return of American citizens there, but declined to comment further, citing the sensitivity of the negotiations.
State Department spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that the Maduro regime was not allowing U.S. citizens to leave Venezuela “despite multiple efforts by the United States Government to arrange humanitarian evacuation flights.”
“We have made offers in the past that would allow U.S. citizens to leave, but all were rejected by Maduro and his cronies,” Ortagus said in a statement. “We continue to explore all options to allow U.S. citizens to leave Venezuela and return to the United States.”
This story has been updated with additional information.
