Venezuela authorizes resumption of US migrant repatriation flights

Venezuela has authorized the resumption of migrant repatriation flights from the US following requests from the Trump administration, officials said Tuesday.

Venezuela's Transportation Ministry said in a statement that flights from Phoenix, Arizona to Maiquetia International Airport near the capital Caracas would be allowed to operate again.

The ministry added that the flights will take place regularly on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Flights had been operating twice weekly since early this year, but over the weekend, Venezuela said US President Donald Trump's statement that Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed created confusion and temporarily suspended the program.

Trump remarks Saturday marked the latest escalation of tensions between the US and the South American country.

"To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY," he said on his Truth Social platform.

The move comes after months of expanding US military operations across Latin America, deploying Marines, warships, fighter and bomber jets, submarines and drones amid speculation that Washington could launch an attack on Venezuela.

So far, the US military has carried out 21 attacks on suspected drug-smuggling vessels, resulting in the deaths of at least 83 people whom the administration has described as "narco-terrorists."