Venezuela welcomes home nationals deported from US in Guantanamo Bay

“The US government decided to send a group of Venezuelans there,” said Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello as the plane was landing. “Today, fortunately, they are returning to our country.”

In a statement released earlier, Venezuela said it rejected “any attempt to criminalize the nation and its citizens,” and that if any of the repatriated had committed a crime “they would act accordingly with Venezuelan law and in respect for human rights.”

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The flight, that landed late Thursday carrying around 180 people, is the third repatriation flight between the US and Venezuela since President Donald Trump’s special envoy and Nicolás Maduro agreed to a fresh start and the release of six American prisoners earlier this month. The first two flights arrived on Feb. 10.

The Department of Justice had previously said in a federal court filing that about 180 Venezuelan men had been held at the Caribbean island military base, after being flown from the US. All had final deportation orders, according to the filing.

The US Homeland Security Department didn’t reply to a request for comment.

The Trump administration has previously declined to provide any details of who was jailed at Guantanamo Bay, including what if any criminal history they had.

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In social media posts boasting about the transfers and other immigration arrests, officials have used the phrases “worst of the worst” and “the worst first,” claiming that at least some of the men were members of the Tren de Aragua gang, which has been designated as a terrorist organization by the Trump administration.