Homesick Venezuelans stranded as US sanctions block repatriation flight

DOZENS of Venezuelan passengers were left stranded when a repatriation flight organised by the Venezuelan Government failed to leave Caracas for Trinidad on Thursday.

The flight was scheduled to leave Piarco International Airport at 3.15 pm on Thursday, carrying 96 people – 83 adults and 13 children.

But the flight, by the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, was denied landing permission in Piarco.

Passengers could not even check in their luggage, as all arrangements were to have been made by Conviasa.

Officials from the Venezuelan Embassy in TT were at the airport. At 4.25 pm, Venezuelan ambassador Carlos Amador Perez received notification from the TT government that the landing permit had been denied.

But the ambassador told Newsday, "The departure exemption for Venezuelan passengers was approved since Monday.

"The permission for the plane to land was not. We await further information,"

Sources in Venezuela reported that the plane and its crew were ready to come to TT.

A release from the Ministry of National Security on Thursday confirmed that permission for the Venezuelan aircraft to land in TT had been denied as the airline had been sanctioned by the United States.

The release said, "The Ministry of National Security has reached out to the US Embassy in Port of Spain to seek guidance and will work with the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs, with respect to the possibility of a future repatriation exercise by the Venezuelan Government."

Sol Morris, relative of a stroke victim who was supposed to be on the flight, said, "Her daughters are waiting for her in Caracas and now it can get more complicated. She is anxious, she wants to leave. It is a humanitarian question that the government must understand."

Another Venezuelan, Noris Villaroel, said she had handed back the key to her El Socorro apartment to her landlord when she received what she thought was confirmation that she was going home.

"Now I don't know where I'm going to spend the night. What little (money) I had, I spent on the PCR test and the taxi to the airport," the weeping Villaroel said.

As news broke of the flight being cancelled, the Venezuelans appeared lost as to what their next move was. They slowly left Piarco Airport when it dawned on them that they would have to stay in Trinidad.

On Tuesday, Venezuelan embassy officials had assured Newsday that the plan for the flight "is well under way."

The list of passengers included people who need to return due to illness, older adults, entire families and even Venezuelans who obtained their registration cards issued by the TT government in 2019, who wanted to return permanently to their country.

An embassy official said, “All the applicants approached the Venezuelan embassy in Port of Spain, filled out the corresponding forms and participated in interviews with the officers."

Passengers were said to have been selected on the basis of need and vulnerability.

The officials stressed that the flight was free as the cost was being covered by the Venezuelan government.

Each selected passenger was to pay his or her own airport departure tax on their own, as well the cost of the required covid19 PCR tests within three days of the flight.