British News Agency

Speaking at the first cabinet meeting of the year at the White House, Trump said he had just concluded a phone call with Venezuela’s interim president (and former vice president) Delcy Rodríguez and informed her of the decision to restore flight access.

At Thursday’s meeting, Trump said, “We will open all commercial airspace over Venezuela. American citizens will very soon be able to travel to Venezuela and will be safe there.”

The president said he instructed U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Pentagon officials to implement the change by the end of the day. He described the security situation in Venezuela after Rodríguez replaced Maduro as being “very firmly under control.”

Direct commercial passenger and cargo flights between the United States and Venezuela had been suspended since May 2019, during Trump’s first term. The Department of Transportation had determined that conditions in the country posed unacceptable security risks to U.S. airlines, crews, and passengers.

Trump’s announcement marks the latest step in the rapid normalization of relations between Washington and Caracas under the interim government, largely composed of Maduro’s former aides.