A new Plan Vuelta a la Patria flight arrived on Monday in Venezuela with 86 nationals from Guayaquil, Ecuador, after President Nicolás Maduro made a commitment to resuming the massive repatriation flights in February, said the Vice-minister of Air Transport and President of Conviasa airline, Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, at the Simón Bolívar International Airport.
Néstor Curvelo, a Caracas citizen with severe disability, described Plan Vuelta a la Patria as a very feasible opportunity to return to Venezuela “without exposing us to aggressive borders such as Peru’s, where extreme aggressions against Venezuelans have been displayed. This plan enables us to return safely to our home.”
Lolimar Bracho, a nurse who returned to Venezuela after 4 years and a half, expressed a similar opinion: “Plan Vuelta a la Patria has given me the opportunity to reunite with my family. We have been given a great treatment by the Embassy and all the staff.”
Vice-minister Veásquez said that over 400,000 Venezuelans have requested President Maduro their repatriation via this humanitarian plan.
With today’s flight, 22,935 Venezuelans have returned via Plan Vuelta a la Patria, an unprecedented humanitarian airlift in the world created in 2018 by President Nicolás to rescue those Venezuelans under vulnerable conditions in receiving countries.
The demand has increased due to restrictions imposed amid the COVID-19 pandemic, forced evictions faced by Venezuelans and growing risks to catch COVID-19 due to the inappropriate handling of the sanitary crisis in some nations of the region.
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Italy and Spain are part of those countries visited by Plan Vuelta a la Patria to bring Venezuelans back and reunite them with their families.