Venezuela would face “severe and escalating sanctions” if it refuses to accept citizens deported from the US, Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Tuesday.
Severe warnings arise as the Trump administration tightens the deportation of illegally living Venezuelans in the United States and requires temporary residence programs for hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans.
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The video depicts the suspicious members of Tren de Aragua and the MS-13. (via x @nayibbukele)
Many of those in protected positions moved to the United States amidst Venezuela’s economic collapse under the authoritarian rules of President Nicolas Maduro.
“Venezuela is obligated to accept repatriated citizens from the United States. This is not a matter of discussion or negotiation,” Rubio wrote about X. “Rewards are also not worth it. The US will impose new and serious methods unless the Maduro administration accepts a consistent flow of deportation flights without further excuses or delays.”
The threat came days later when President Donald Trump’s special mission, Richard Grenell, tasked with securing the release of six U.S. citizens imprisoned in Venezuela, said the Maduro government agreed to accept a repatriation flight.
Maduro agreed to accept the citizens after refusing to do so first.
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Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro (left) and Secretary of State Marco Rubio (right). Rubio threatened new sanctions against Venezuela if Venezuela were not allowed to accept its citizens. (Getty Images/Fox News Digital)
In February, Trump ended his permit to export oil so that Chevron could export oil from Venezuela to the United States.
The Trump administration is fighting to bring Venezuelan gang members back to their country. Over the weekend, 238 Venezuelan gang members were taken to high security prisons in El Salvador, despite the federal judge’s order temporarily blocking deportation.
In an interview with Fox News Radio, Rubio thanked President Nayib Bukele of El Salvadoran for accepting immigrants.
“Venezuela should take them, but they refuse to take them, and we said as part of my meeting with him, we said that in your own prison system it would cost you to accommodate them.
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro will give a speech in front of the Presidential Palace of Miraflor in Caracas on January 10, 2025 (Pedro Lance Matte/Anadoru via Getty Images)
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“I think what El Salvador did for us and President Bukere is very helpful and we are grateful to him, and frankly, we feel we should continue doing that,” he added.
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