Venezuelans expect more repatriation trips

The 96 Venezuelans who went home on Friday on a repatriation flight could be joined by more in the coming weeks.

Officials from the Venezuelan embassy in Trinidad and Tobago told Newsday this trip could be the first of several.

"This is the first repatriation flight from TT. A door is open for future air or sea travel. We hope to continue counting on the support of the authorities, because there are still many Venezuelans who want to return home," said an embassy officials.

On Monday several people asked on social networks and also asked the embassy about the next flight.

On Friday, 82 adults and 14 children went home on a flight organised by the Venezuelan government, many of them elderly and sick. After an initial hitch owing to US sanctions against certain airlines, the flight, via the Venezuelan state airline Conviasa, was given permission to land at Piarco to collect them.

The next repatriation trips might be made by plane or boat, taking into account the closeness of the ports of Guiria and Tucupita.

However, the internal problems in Venezuela and travelling between cities would make returning home hard for some.

Carmen Oliveros said: "In Venezuela there is no transport because there is no gasoline. Moving from one city to another is really problematic. My aunt left on Friday's flight Piarco-Caracas, and on Sunday she still had not arrived at her home in Maturín."

Caracas, the capital, is about 500 kilometres from Maturin, in eastern Venezuela.

Oliveros added, "A boat trip is very different because it reaches Tucupita, which is 200 kilometres from Maturin and there are more transport facilities."

Last Friday's flight left Piarco around 7pm and landed an hour later at the Maiquetia airport, Venezuela.

Oliveros said, "My aunt suffered a lot because of money and waiting time because, as there is a shortage of gasoline in Venezuela, taxi drivers who can work charge high prices in US dollars, so she had to wait for other, cheaper transport."

Another flight from Piarco to Caracas has been organised privately, by the airline Rutaca, but has had no luck in obtaining a landing permit as yet.

Trips by sea to Tucupita are awaiting authorisation, as the borders of both Venezuela and TT are closed owing to the covid19 pandemic.