• The U.S. has requested to resume repatriation flights of Venezuelans, according to the country's civil aviation authority.
  • The request comes despite a recent military escalation that saw the U.S. suspend flights and deploy bombers and an aircraft carrier to the region.
  • The status of nearly 600,000 Venezuelans with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) in the U.S. remains in limbo after the Trump administration ended the designation in January 2025.

Venezuela’s civil aviation authority confirmed it has received a formal request from the United States to restart repatriation flights for Venezuelan nationals deported from U.S. soil. The move signals a potential, if fragile, re-engagement on a key transactional issue between the two hostile governments, even as military tensions simmer in the Caribbean.

According to people familiar with the matter, the request was transmitted through diplomatic channels in recent days. It follows a period of intense volatility in the bilateral relationship, where cooperation on migration enforcement has been repeatedly upended by broader geopolitical conflict. The U.S. had previously "unilaterally suspended" the twice-weekly charter flights in March 2025, a move Venezuela’s foreign ministry at the time called a "hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act." That suspension came after President Trump warned pilots that Venezuelan airspace should be considered "closed in its entirety" amid a significant military buildup targeting alleged narco-traffickers.

“The lines of communication on this specific issue appear to be open, even if others are closed,” said one source briefed on the discussions, who requested anonymity due to the sensitivity of the talks. The resumption of flights would represent a pragmatic, if awkward, piece of diplomacy. Before the suspension, nearly 14,000 Venezuelans had been returned on the charter flights over recent months, providing the Trump administration with a key outlet for its immigration enforcement agenda.

Efforts to restart the program have hit previous snags. In a controversial parallel move earlier this year, the Trump administration deported 238 Venezuelans to El Salvador instead of their home country, despite a federal judge's temporary restraining order. Those deportees were reportedly imprisoned upon arrival. The administration proceeded with the flights despite the court order, a fact that has complicated the legal and operational landscape for any renewed repatriation effort directly to Venezuela.

The request arrives against a backdrop of sustained military pressure. Since early September 2025, U.S. operations in the region have resulted in more than 80 casualties, according to reports. The deployment of dozens of U.S. bombers and the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier to the region remains a point of major contention, with the Venezuelan government viewing it as a direct threat.

For the hundreds of thousands of Venezuelan migrants in the U.S., the flight resumption is a double-edged sword. While it offers a direct path home for those facing deportation, it also coincides with the termination of protections for the broader community. The Trump administration ended the Temporary Protected Status designation for Venezuela in January 2025, putting approximately 600,000 people at risk of losing their legal right to remain. A final decision on formally terminating the status is still pending, creating widespread anxiety.

Officials at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the flight request. The Venezuelan civil aviation authority's statement was brief, confirming only the receipt of the request without detailing any conditions or proposed timeline for a resumption. Analysts suggest that for the Maduro government, accepting the flights may be a calculated move to secure a minor channel of dialogue and to manage the return of its citizens in a controlled manner, rather than through third countries.

Whether this specific channel of cooperation can be stabilized while military posturing continues is the central question. The relationship has proven brittle, shifting rapidly from transactional agreement to outright hostility. For now, the request sits on the table, a small diplomatic overture in a much larger and more dangerous standoff.

Correction: An earlier version of this article misstated the timing of the TPS designation termination. The Trump administration ended the 2023 designation in January 2025; a final decision on formally terminating the status for current holders is still pending.