Venezuela says migrant repatriation flight suspended, US says they will continue

Dec 12 - Venezuela's interior ministry said in a statement late on Thursday that the United States has suspended a migrant repatriation ‍flight ​which had been set to arrive ‍on Friday, amid months of high tensions between the two countries, though a ​U.S. ​administration official said flights will continue.

The U.S. is executing a large-scale military build-up in the southern Caribbean as President Donald ‍Trump campaigns for the ouster of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. This ​week the U.S. seized ⁠a sanctioned oil tanker off the country's coast.

"This Thursday, we have received the decision of the government of the United States to suspend, unilaterally, the ​return of Venezuelan citizens who had been scheduled to return on December 12," the ‌interior ministry said in a ​statement late on Thursday night, saying the suspension interrupted a coordinated process and was contradictory to previous agreements.

The ministry added it is confident the U.S. will "rectify" the situation "sooner rather than later".

But a U.S. administration official contradicted the Venezuela statement, telling Reuters "There is no truth ‍to this. Deportation flights to Venezuela will continue."

Repatriation flights, ​which this year have returned more than 18,000 Venezuelans, mostly from the ​U.S., were briefly halted earlier this month ‌after Trump said Venezuelan airspace should be considered closed. Venezuela later said it had received a U.S. ‌request to resume them. REUTERS