MIAMI — For the first time in nearly seven years, the American Airlines check-in counter at Miami International Airport displayed the name of a destination just three hours across the Caribbean: Caracas.
“Are you ready for the big day?” a service agent asked, a banner of tiny Venezuelan flags above him.
With free arepas at the gate and Trump administration officials on hand, passengers on Thursday boarded the first direct commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela since 2019, when the countries broke off diplomatic relations.
But even as the direct flights resume, and even as President Donald Trump has sought to ramp up removals of Venezuelans from the U.S., many are unable to return home, for want of a valid passport or fear of jeopardizing ongoing immigration cases in the U.S.
The resumption of direct flights is the latest in the series of steps by the Trump administration to reestablish ties with the South American nation in the months since the U.S. capture of President Nicolás Maduro. The State Department has reopened the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, announced general licenses allowing American oil companies to do business in Venezuela and eased sanctions on the country’s central bank. Even as much of the authoritarian socialist government remains intact — Trump has recognized Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, as interim president — the administration has sought to signal a swift transformation in Venezuela.
“Today we are sending another clear signal to the global market that Venezuela is once again open for business,” said John Barrett, the U.S. Chargé d’Affaires in Venezuela.
Over the past seven years, Venezuelans in the U.S. could return home only through a third country such as Panama, the Dominican Republic or Colombia, a longer and more complicated journey.
Thursday’s flight offered an inaugural fast-track option — for those who could afford it. Tickets ranged upward of $2,000 for the flight, a VIP experience complete with free tequeños and photo ops. Flights for the coming days are listed at about $1,300. American Airlines said Thursday the Miami-Caracas route was only the beginning — the carrier will soon restart flights to Maracaibo, Venezuela’s oil hub.
In the short term, the demand might be limited. Some Venezuelans in the U.S. had their passports taken by immigration authorities upon entering the country. Others have seen their passports expire, with no consular services available in the U.S. and challenges returning to Venezuela to renew them.
Félix Plasencia, Venezuela’s ambassador to the U.S., said Venezuelan officials are working with the Department of Homeland Security to grant Venezuelans without valid passports a travel document that would allow them to make the trip. He also said Venezuela would allow citizens to enter even with expired passports. A customs agent in Caracas told The Washington Post such travelers would be fined but allowed to enter.
Oliver Blanco, deputy foreign minister for the Rodríguez government, said officials and airlines are in contact about the travel documents and are working toward reopening consulates.
“This flight marks the transition from dialogue to action,” Plasencia told reporters and passengers in Miami before the flight. He argued Venezuela, with the closest South American airport to the U.S., has the potential to develop into a leading regional air hub.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava, standing beside Plasencia, said Venezuelan families are looking forward most to the day they can return to a “free” Venezuela, where democracy is restored and families aren’t forced to remain apart. The Venezuelan ambassador refrained from joining the applause.
One of the passengers listening was Isabel Parra, a dual citizen of Venezuela and the U.S. who runs a tourism agency that serves Venezuelans. She grew up moving back and forth between the countries and has worked for airlines of both. But she hadn’t returned herself since 2018, in part because her Venezuelan passport expired long ago, and she dreaded the logistical hurdles — and potential risk — of entering the country on a U.S. passport.
Still, the moment American Airlines announced the first flight back, she knew she needed to be on it — to visit her elderly father, who is ill, but also for her work. She applied for a business visa to visit her own country, just to be sure she wouldn’t encounter any problems entering on her U.S. passport. She planned to join her colleagues to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of her tourism agency. “I’ve dreamed of this moment,” she said.
But as she buckled her seat belt on the Embraer E175, a small plane that seats about 75 passengers, Parra felt unsettled. “Until I make it through Maiquetia, I won’t be able to relax,” she said.
She remembered the last time she was in the country, eight years ago, when she waited in a long line to buy bread for her mother and struggled to pay for her medications. She considered trying to return last year, but felt unsafe. Since Maduro claimed reelection in a 2024 vote widely seen as fraudulent, his government had grown increasingly repressive. What kind of country would she arrive to find?
Other Venezuelans remain hesitant. John de la Vega, an immigration attorney who works with Venezuelans in Miami, said none of his clients want to return because they fear forfeiting asylum claims in the U.S. or persecution in Venezuela.
Patricia Andrade, who advocates for Venezuelan migrants in Miami, said she won’t feel safe returning while Diosdado Cabello, the country’s hard-line interior minister, and other key figures of the Maduro government in power. A prominent human rights activist, she says the Venezuelan government has accused her of being a traitor to her country.
Her husband, however, is eager to visit now that direct flights have resumed. As a dual citizen, he sees it as a vote of confidence in Venezuela by the U.S. And the fact the flights are on American Airlines feels like a form of protection.
For tourism agents Mirko Marmai and his wife, Claudia Varesano, Thursday’s flight could be the start of a boom for their industry in Venezuela. Their agency organizes trips to Venezuela, and Marmai travels to the country every 45 days from his home in Miami. The direct flights will cut his journey down from seven hours to just over three.
But while the couple’s work ties them to Venezuela, Marmai said, they’re not ready to move back for good. They have kids in the U.S. and are settled. Before returning, he said, he’d want to see a “complete political change in regime” and transparent democratic elections.
As the plane arrived, some change was evident. Just months ago, the countries were adversaries. On Thursday, the Embraer E175 touched down at Simón Bolívar International Airport to applause from the passengers and a water salute from firefighters on the tarmac. The crew welcomed the flight to Venezuela “for the first time.”
Airport authorities had in recent weeks taken down the posters offering a reward for the capture of Edmundo González, the opposition candidate who won the most votes in the 2024 election but was denied the presidency. Billboards outside the airport promoted travel to Angel Falls.
And as her cousin drove her through the Caracas traffic, with motorcycles zipping past, Isabel Parra took photos of the places her mother used to visit — of the country she was now rediscovering.
“It’s all the same,” she said.
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