Venezuela has announced it reached an agreement with the United States to accept additional deportation flights, one week after more than 200 Venezuelans accused of being gang members were sent to El Salvador.
The flights were suspended last month when US President Donald Trump claimed Venezuela had not lived up to its promises, and Venezuela subsequently said it would no longer accept the flights.
But then the US deported 238 Venezuelans accused of belonging to the Tren de Aragua gang, which Mr Trump has designated a foreign terrorist organisation, to a maximum-security prison in El Salvador, a move deeply criticized by Venezuela.
"In order to ensure the return of our countrymen with the protection of their human rights, we have agreed with the US government to resume the repatriation of Venezuelan migrants with a first flight tomorrow," Venezuelan top negotiator Jorge Rodriguez said in a statement.
"Migrating is not a crime, and we will not rest until all those who want to return are home, and until we rescue our brothers kidnapped in El Salvador," said Mr Rodriguez, who is also the president of Venezuela's National Assembly.
Tomorrow's flight will be the fifth flight of migrants arriving in Venezuela since Mr Trump took office in January.
Since February, about 900 Venezuelans have been repatriated, most from the United States and some from Mexico.
"Tomorrow, thanks to the perseverance and persistence of our government, we will resume flights to continue rescuing and releasing migrants from US prisons," Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said.
"We will rescue a group of young men tomorrow, and next week, and the week after that," he said.
Last month, Mr Trump revoked permission for oil giant Chevron to operate in Venezuela, a blow to Venezuela's wobbly economy.
The Republican president said Mr Maduro had failed to accept deported migrants "at the rapid pace" they agreed to.
The countries broke off diplomatic relations in 2019, during Mr Trump's first term, after the US recognised then-opposition leader Juan Guaido as "interim president" following 2018 elections widely rejected as neither free nor fair.
Mr Maduro nevertheless maintained his grip on power, and Joe Biden's administration relaxed sanctions on Venezuelan oil as part of a deal for American prisoners and a promise to hold free elections. Those promised reforms never came.
The US did not recognise Mr Maduro's 2024 reelection win.
There had been glimmers of hope for the relationship at the start of Mr Trump's new term, with US envoys in Venezuela for talks.
Then Mr Trump invoked the wartime Alien Enemies Act to target Tren de Aragua and sparked anger by reaching a deal with Salvadoran leader Nayib Bukele to use his Terrorism Confinement Center (CECOT) outside San Salvador.
Relatives of some of those deported to El Salvador told AFP they were told they were being taken to Venezuela.
Mr Maduro said that those men, "who never committed crimes in the United States, much less in El Salvador," would eventually be returned to Venezuela.
Yesterday, the United States said it was revoking the legal status of hundreds of thousands of immigrants, including from Venezuela, who had been granted entry under a plan launched by Joe Biden in 2022.
They now have 30 days to leave the country.
Mr Trump has pledged to carry out the largest deportation campaign in US history and curb immigration, mainly from Latin American nations.
More than seven million Venezuelans have fled Venezuela over the last decade as their country's oil-rich economy implodes under Mr Maduro.
