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ARCHIVE - An airplane of the Venezuelan airline Estelar at Simon Bolivar International Airport. Photo: Pedro Mattey/dpa/symbol image
Keystone
Just under a month after the US military operation in Venezuela, US President Donald Trump has announced that the South American country's airspace will be opened to commercial air traffic. He had instructed Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and the US military to allow flights to Venezuela again before this Friday, Trump said.
In light of the US raid in Venezuela on January 3 to arrest authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had banned commercial and private US flights from operating in certain Venezuelan territories. During the operation, Maduro was captured and taken to New York; various targets had previously been bombed. The warnings issued by the US authorities also led to numerous international airlines suspending their flights to Venezuela.
Trump said he had announced his decision to acting President Delcy Rodríguez in a telephone call. "American citizens will be able to travel to Venezuela shortly, and they will be safe there," Trump said. Venezuelans who had emigrated and wanted to return to or visit their country would now also be able to do so.
Following Maduro's capture, Rodríguez is the figure within the Venezuelan government with whom Washington is negotiating directly - particularly over the management of the country's large oil reserves. Maduro is in prison in New York. He is to be tried for alleged drug offenses.
29.01.2026, 20:30
