On Thursday night, a Plan Vuelta a la Patria flight landed on the Simón Bolívar International Airport with 96 Venezuelans returning from Ecuador.
These 96 nationals were welcomed by the Foreign Vice-minister for Latin America, Rander Peña, and followed all the biosecurity protocols and measures implemented by the Bolivarian Government under the guidance of the World Health Organization (WHO).
“Go hug your families. Feel the warmth of home. You are now safe in your country. We were waiting for you,” said Peña.
On this occasion, the number of children returning surpassed that of previous flights.
The testimonies of many Venezuelans who have returned have made it possible to compiled complaints about xenophobia, discrimination, and labor exploitation, which, in addition to adverse economic conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, are the main reasons why they requested their return to Venezuela.
Since Plan Vuelta a la Patria was launched in 2018, over 23,000 nationals have returned safe to Venezuela from countries such as Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, Mexico, Dominican Republic, Italy and Spain, among others.