The Venezuelan government has launched state-operated flights to repatriate citizens deported from the United States, ushering in a new era in relations between the two nations.

Two Embraer 190 aircraft from flag carrier Conviasa, with the capacity to carry 104 passengers each, touched down at Biggs Army Airfield in Fort Bliss, Texas, on February 10. The plane, bearing registration numbers YV2944 and YV3071, made stopovers in Cancun before entering US airspace, following a route over Mexican territory.

The operation follows the January 31 talks in Caracas between Venezuelan officials and Richard Grenell, President Donald Trump's special envoy.

While Grenell bypassed direct engagement with Venezuela’s beleaguered opposition, he reportedly held virtual meetings with Edmundo González Urrutia, whom the US recognises as legitimate president-elect after last year's disputed election, and María Corina Machado before his trip. Sources say he spoke again with Machado during his return journey.

The deportation flights are being touted by Caracas under its signature "Return to the Homeland" programme, prominently displayed on the aircraft's fuselage.

Venezuela joins several Latin American nations, including Mexico, Guatemala, Ecuador, Colombia and Honduras, whose citizens have been deported under the Trump administration's intensified immigration measures.

The move, anticipated last week by border czar Tom Homan in an interview with The New York Times, has sparked concern among Venezuelan community leaders in the US, and coincides with the White House’s decision to end Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for nearly 350,000 Venezuelans in the United States.

The controversial agreement comes amid Venezuela's repeated insistence that “any transfers must prioritise human dignity and rights,” after deportees landing in Brazil on previous deportation flights lamented being handcuffed onboard.

Yet the initiative has already faced complications, with US authorities warning that some returnees have links to organised crime, particularly the infamous Tren de Aragua gang. Venezuela's government has attempted to deflect these concerns by claiming it had already "fought and defeated" the criminal organisation within its borders, while making unsubstantiated allegations that opposition groups had recruited such elements to create domestic instability.

The regime of President Nicolas Maduro, who has been recently inaugurated for a third term amid widespread allegations of electoral fraud, maintains that the majority of returning migrants are "decent and hardworking people" who were forced to leave Venezuela due to economic sanctions and what it describes as "psychological warfare campaigns" against the oil-rich country.

But in reality Maduro has presided over a decade of economic collapse, mismanagement and corruption which saw over 7.7mn Venezuelans leaving the country.

The repatriation scheme may pave the way for a breakthrough in US-Venezuelan relations, with Caracas expressing willingness to strengthen bilateral cooperation on law enforcement matters.

Venezuela has framed the agreement within its "diplomacy of peace" approach, signalling its desire for “constructive dialogue” with Washington despite years of diplomatic tensions and economic sanctions, which it hopes to see lifted in exchange for its newfound cooperation.

However, this is set to be anything but a smooth process, as Trump has said that his administration will "probably" halt purchases of Venezuelan crude, putting Chevron’s existing oil licences at risk. This could deal a fresh blow to the country's vital oil industry, which had only started to rebound following targeted waivers issued by the Biden administration.

Additionally, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio recently dismissed any possibility of recognising Nicolas Maduro as Venezuela's legitimate leader, warning that Washington has multiple options to inflict damage upon the Venezuelan government.

Rubio, who has consistently opposed Latin American leftist totalitarian governments, indicated that the Trump administration is prepared to take further action against what it considers a dictatorship – even as it revokes protection status for Venezuelans, including political opponents, fleeing that same regime.

Only time will tell whether these deportation flights – the product of a first, timid diplomatic engagement under Trump’s transactional terms – signal a meaningful thaw in relations or a temporary accommodation of mutual interests.