CARACAS: Two planes carrying Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States — the first since a January deal between the administration of US Donald Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — are heading to Venezuela, the South American country’s government said on Monday.
The flights, run by Venezuelan airline Conviasa, are part of a plan to repatriate thousands of migrants who fled Venezuela “because of economic sanctions and the campaigns of psychological warfare against our country,” the government statement said.
Some of the people on the flights are allegedly involved in illegal activities with the Tren de Aragua gang, the statement said, and will be vigorously investigated for criminal ties.
Trump envoy Richard Grenell met with Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 31, where the two men discussed migration and sanctions, among other issues. Grenell left the South American country with six Americans who had been held by Venezuelan authorities.
The Trump administration has said it is a priority to deport members of Tren de Aragua from the US and Trump himself said after Grenell’s visit that Maduro agreed to receive all Venezuelan illegal migrants and provide for their transportation back home.
The Venezuelan government says it destroyed Tren de Aragua within its borders in 2023.
Trump’s administration has also moved to remove deportation protection from about 348,000 Venezuelans in the US, who could lose work permits and then be deported in April.
More than 7 million Venezuelan migrants have left their country in recent years amid a sustained economic and social collapse blamed by the government on sanctions by the United States and others.
Maduro and several allies have been indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges and international observers and the country’s opposition say a July election which gave Maduro his third term was fraudulent.
Two flights carrying US deportees heading to Venezuela, alleged gang members aboard
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Two flights carrying US deportees heading to Venezuela, alleged gang members aboard
- Some of the people on the flights are allegedly involved in illegal activities with the Tren de Aragua gang
- Trump envoy Richard Grenell met with Nicolas Maduro in Caracas on Jan. 31, and left with six Americans who had been held by Venezuelan authorities
US bars five Europeans it says pressured tech firms to censor American viewpoints online
WASHINGTON: The State Department announced Tuesday it was barring five Europeans it accused of leading efforts to pressure US tech firms to censor or suppress American viewpoints.
The Europeans, characterized by Secretary of State Marco Rubio as “radical” activists and “weaponized” nongovernmental organizations, fell afoul of a new visa policy announced in May to restrict the entry of foreigners deemed responsible for censorship of protected speech in the United States.
“For far too long, ideologues in Europe have led organized efforts to coerce American platforms to punish American viewpoints they oppose,” Rubio posted on X. “The Trump Administration will no longer tolerate these egregious acts of extraterritorial censorship.”
The five Europeans were identified by Sarah Rogers, the under secretary of state for public diplomacy, in a series of posts on social media. They include the leaders of organizations that address digital hate and a former European Union commissioner who clashed with tech billionaire Elon Musk over broadcasting an online interview with Donald Trump.
Rubio’s statement said they advanced foreign government censorship campaigns against Americans and US companies, which he said created “potentially serious adverse foreign policy consequences” for the US
The action to bar them from the US is part of a Trump administration campaign against foreign influence over online speech, using immigration law rather than platform regulations or sanctions.
The five Europeans named by Rogers are: Imran Ahmed, chief executive of the Center for Countering Digital Hate; Josephine Ballon and Anna-Lena von Hodenberg, leaders of HateAid, a German organization; Clare Melford, who runs the Global Disinformation Index; and former EU Commissioner Thierry Breton, who was responsible for digital affairs.
Rogers in her post on X called Breton, a French business executive and former finance minister, the “mastermind” behind the EU’s Digital Services Act, which imposes a set of strict requirements designed to keep Internet users safe online. This includes flagging harmful or illegal content like hate speech.
She referred to Breton warning Musk of a possible “amplification of harmful content” by broadcasting his livestream interview with Trump in August 2024 when he was running for president.
Breton responded Tuesday on X by noting that all 27 EU members voted for the Digital Services Act in 2022. “To our American friends: ‘Censorship isn’t where you think it is,’” he wrote.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot said France condemns the visa restrictions on Breton and the four others. Also posting on X, he said the DSA was adopted to ensure that “what is illegal offline is also illegal online.” He said it “has absolutely no extraterritorial reach and in no way concerns the United States.”
Most Europeans are covered by the Visa Waiver Program, which means they don’t necessarily need visas to come into the country. They do, however, need to complete an online application prior to arrival under a system run by the Department of Homeland Security, so it is possible that at least some of these five people have been flagged to DHS, a US official said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss details not publicly released.
Other visa restriction policies were announced this year, along with bans targeting foreign visitors from certain African and Middle Eastern countries and the Palestinian Authority. Visitors from some countries could be required to post a financial bond when applying for a visa.
