MAIQUETIA, Venezuela: The United States deported 177 migrants from its military base in Guantanamo, Cuba to their homeland in Venezuela Thursday, the latest sign of cooperation between the long-feuding governments.
Officials in Washington and Caracas confirmed that a plane left the US base and deposited the 177 people in Honduras, where they were picked up by the Venezuelan government.
The deportees then left for Venezuela on a flag carrier Conviasa flight that arrived in Maiquetia late Thursday.
Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello received the all-male group of deportees at the airport, telling them: “Welcome to the homeland.”
“Those who returned, in theory, are all Venezuelans who were in Guantanamo,” Cabello told journalists, adding that another deportation flight was expected to arrive at the end of the week.
The carefully choreographed operation would have seemed impossible just weeks ago when the United States accused President Nicolas Maduro of stealing an election.
But since President Donald Trump entered office four weeks ago, relations have thawed, with the White House prioritizing immigration cooperation.
Maduro said the handover was at the “direct request” of his government to that of Trump.
“We have rescued 177 new migrants from Guantanamo,” he said at an official event.
Trump envoy Richard Grenell traveled to Caracas on January 31 and met Maduro, who is the subject of a $25 million US bounty for his arrest.
Grenell brokered the release of six US prisoners. A day later Trump announced Venezuela had agreed to accept illegal migrants deported from the United States.
Venezuela said it had “requested the repatriation of a group of compatriots who were unjustly taken to the Guantanamo naval base.”
“This request has been accepted and the citizens have been transferred to Honduras, from where they will be recovered,” the government said in a statement.
US Immigration and Customs Enforcement confirmed they had transported “177 Venezuelan illegal aliens from Guantanamo Bay to Honduras today for pickup by the Venezuelan government.”
Caracas broke off ties with Washington in January 2019 after The United States recognized then-opposition leader Juan Guaido as “interim president” following 2018 elections that were widely rejected as neither free nor fair.
In October 2023, Maduro allowed US planes with deported migrants to fly into Venezuela but withdrew permission four months later.
His government has been flying free or subsidized repatriation flights for Venezuelans wishing to return home.
Venezuela is keen to end crippling US sanctions and to move beyond the controversy over elections last July that the United States and numerous other countries said were won by the opposition.
The contested election results sparked protests in which at least 28 people were killed and about 200 injured, with 2,400 arrests.
Human rights groups in the United States have sued to gain access to migrants held in Guantanamo after Trump ordered the base to prepare to receive some 30,000 people who entered the United States without papers.
Guantanamo is synonymous with abuses against terror suspects held there after the September 11 attacks.
The United States on Thursday deported another group of 135 migrants of various nationalities – including 65 children – to Costa Rica, from where they will be repatriated to their home countries, including China, Russia, Afghanistan, Ghana and Vietnam, the government in San Jose said.
Costa Rica, along with Panama, is serving as a way station for migrants deported by Trump’s government.
US sends migrants from Guantanamo to Venezuela
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US sends migrants from Guantanamo to Venezuela
- A plane left the US base and deposited the 177 people in Honduras, where they were picked up by the Venezuelan government
- The deportees then left for Venezuela on a flag carrier Conviasa flight that arrived in Maiquetia late Thursday
Kremlin says visit of senior Russian negotiator to US this week ‘possible’
- Kirill Dmitriev took part in Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia in February
- President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitriev as the Kremlin’s international economy envoy in February
Dmitriev took part in Russia-US talks in Saudi Arabia in February and his visit would be the first of a senior Russian official to the United States since Moscow launched its offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.
“Yes, I confirm. This visit may be possible. We are continuing to talk to the Americans. I will not give more concrete (details),” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters when asked about media reports on the visit.
President Vladimir Putin appointed Dmitriev as the Kremlin’s international economy envoy in February as Moscow seeks to warm ties with Washington during Donald Trump’s presidency.
Russia is hoping for an easing of massive sanctions on its economy under Trump.
His visit to the United States would come as both Russia and Ukraine have accused each other of violating agreements brokered by Washington officials in Saudi Arabia in March.
Citing sources, CNN reported that the United States temporarily lifted sanctions against Dmitriev to allow his visit.
Writing on social media, Dmitriev said “maybe” in a post in which he shared a link to the CNN report.
Witkoff has previously traveled to Russia to meet Putin.
Europe and Kyiv fear the Trump administration could strike a deal with Moscow on Ukraine or lift sanctions on the Russian economy in a bid to force a ceasefire on terms favorable to Russia.
WHO facing $2.5-bn gap even after slashing budget: report
- As the United Nations health agency has been bracing for the planned full US withdrawal next January, it has gradually shrunk its two-year budget for 2026-2027 from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion
As the United Nations health agency has been bracing for the planned full US withdrawal next January, it has gradually shrunk its two-year budget for 2026-2027 from $5.3 billion to $4.2 billion.
But even after the dramatic scaling back, it remains $1.9 billion short toward that budget, Health Policy Watch reported Wednesday.
That figure, which the publication said had been provided to staff during a town hall meeting on Tuesday, comes on top of the nearly $600 million the agency had already warned was missing toward this year’s budget, it said.
WHO did not immediately respond to AFP’s request for comment on the report, which comes as the organization is grappling with the looming departure of its historically biggest donor.
Besides announcing the US pullout from the WHO after returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump decided to freeze virtually all US foreign aid, including vast assistance to health projects worldwide.
The United States gave WHO $1.3 billion during its 2022-2023 budget period, mainly through voluntary contributions for specific earmarked projects rather than fixed membership fees.
But Washington never paid its 2024 dues, and is not expected to respect its membership obligations for 2025, the agency acknowledged.
Altogether, the United States owes $260 million in membership fees alone for 2024-2025, according to a WHO overview.
Only Friday, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus had informed staff of the $600-million hole in this year’s budget, warning in a message seen by AFP that the agency had “no choice” but to start making cutbacks.
“Dramatic cuts to official development assistance by the United States of America and others are causing massive disruption to countries, NGOs and United Nations agencies, including WHO,” Tedros said in his email.
He said that even before Trump triggered the one-year process of withdrawing from the WHO, the organization was already facing financial constraints.
“Despite our best efforts, we are now at the point where we have no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce,” said Tedros.
“This reduction will begin at headquarters, starting with senior leadership, but will affect all levels and regions,” he told staff.
Last month, Tedros asked Washington to reconsider its sharp cuts to global health funding, warning that the sudden halt threatened millions of lives.
He said disruptions to global HIV programs alone could lead to “more than 10 million additional cases of HIV and three million HIV-related deaths.”
Congo commutes death sentences for US citizens in failed coup
- The Americans were among some 50 people who stood trial last year
- A total of 37 defendants were sentenced to death by a military court in September
KINSHASA: The death sentences of three US citizens convicted for their role in a failed coup in Democratic Republic of Congo last year have been commuted to life imprisonment, the presidency said, ahead of a visit by the new US senior adviser for Africa.
The Americans were among some 50 people, including US, British, Canadian, Belgian and Congolese citizens, who stood trial last year following the botched attempt to overthrow the government in May.
A total of 37 defendants were sentenced to death by a military court in September, including US citizens Marcel Malanga, Tyler Thompson and Benjamin Zalman-Polun.
All three were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, terrorism and other charges.
They denied any wrongdoing and unsuccessfully appealed against the verdict. But Congo’s justice ministry then proposed a pardon, which the public prosecutor requested from the presidency.
President Felix Tshisekedi on Tuesday signed three orders to commute their sentences to life in prison, his spokesperson Tina Salama said on national television.
“This presidential pardon is a first step that promises major changes in the future,” one of Malanga’s lawyers, Ckiness Ciamba, said by telephone.
Relatives of Malanga and a lawyer for Zalman-Polun did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Thompson’s parents declined to speak on the record.
Marcel Malanga is the son of US-based Congolese politician Christian Malanga, who led the armed men who briefly occupied an office of the presidency in the capital Kinshasa on May 19 before security forces killed him.
Thompson is a friend of Marcel Malanga who played high school football with him in Utah. Both are in their 20s. Zalman-Polun was a business associate of Christian Malanga.
Their sentences were commuted ahead of a trip to Congo by the newly appointed US senior adviser for Africa, Massad Boulos.
Boulos, the father-in-law of US President Donald Trump’s daughter Tiffany, will travel to Congo, Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda from April 3, the State Department said in a statement on Tuesday.
He will seek to advance efforts for peace in east Congo, where a Rwanda-backed rebellion is raging, and promote US private sector investment in the region.
Man rescued from rubble in Myanmar’s capital but hope fading of finding more earthquake survivors
- The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit midday Friday, toppling thousands of buildings, collapsing bridges and buckling roads
- Naing Lin Tun was pulled through a hole jackhammered through a floor from the rubble of the capital city hotel
BANGKOK: Rescue crews in Myanmar pulled a 26-year-old man out alive from the rubble of the capital city hotel where he worked early Wednesday, but most teams were finding only bodies five days after a massive earthquake hit the country.
After using an endoscopic camera to pinpoint Naing Lin Tun’s location in the rubble and confirm that he was alive, the man was gingerly pulled through a hole jackhammered through a floor and loaded on to a gurney nearly 108 hours after he was trapped in the hotel where he worked.
Shirtless and covered in dust, Naing Lin Tun appeared weak but conscious in a video released by the local fire department, as he was fitted with an IV drip and taken away. State-run MRTV reported that the rescue in the city of Naypyitaw was carried out by a Turkish and local team and took more than nine hours.
The 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit midday Friday, toppling thousands of buildings, collapsing bridges and buckling roads. So far, 2,719 people have been reported dead and another 4,521 injured but local reports suggest much higher figures.
The earthquake also rocked neighboring Thailand, causing the collapse of a high-rise building under construction in Bangkok. One body was removed from the rubble early Wednesday, raising the death total in Bangkok to 22 with 34 injured, primarily at the construction site.
Myanmar has been wracked by civil war and the earthquake is making a dire humanitarian crisis even worse, with more than 3 million people displaced from their homes and nearly 20 million in need even before it hit, according to the United Nations.
Countries have pledged millions in assistance to help Myanmar and humanitarian aid organizations with the monumental task ahead.
Australia on Wednesday said it was providing another $4.5 million, in addition to $1.25 million it had already committed, and had a rapid response team on the ground.
India has flown in aid and sent two Navy ships with supplies as well as providing some 200 rescue workers. Multiple other countries have sent teams, including 270 people from China, 212 from Russia and 122 from the United Arab Emirates.
A three-person team from the US Agency for International Development arrived Tuesday to determine how best to respond given limited US resources due to the slashing of the foreign aid budget and dismantling of the agency as an independent operation. Washington said on the weekend it would provide $2 million in emergency assistance.
Most of the details so far have come from Mandalay, Myanmar’s second-largest city, which was near the epicenter of the earthquake, and the capital Naypyitaw, about 270 kilometers (165 miles) north of Mandalay.
Many areas are without power, telephone or cell connections, and difficult to reach by road, but more reports are beginning to trickle in.
In Singu township, about 65 kilometers (40 miles) north of Mandalay, 27 gold miners were killed were killed in a cave-in, the independent Democratic Voice of Burma reported.
In the area of Inle Lake, northeast of the capital, many people died when homes built on wooden stilts in the water collapsed in the earthquake, the government’s official Global New Light of Myanmar reported without providing specific figures.
High waves cause damage on Sydney waterfront
- Several homes were evacuated at Botany Bay in Sydney’s south around midnight as waves surged across the coast
- Further north at Sydney’s premier Bondi Beach, the coast was lashed by a 5.5-meter swell, officials said
SYDNEY: Sydney beachfront properties were flooded and coastal infrastructure damaged after a large swell combined with a king tide to batter the Australian shore, officials said Thursday.
Several homes were evacuated at Botany Bay in Sydney’s south around midnight as waves surged across the coast, according to New South Wales State Emergency Service spokesman Andrew Edmunds.
Further north at Sydney’s premier Bondi Beach, the coast was lashed by a 5.5-meter (18-foot) swell, officials said.
Windows were shattered at Bondi Icebergs Swimming Club, a waterfront pool, gymnasium and restaurant complex. CCTV footage showed waves bursting through glass doors after 11 p.m. on Tuesday.
“It has just been devastating,” club general manager Bob Tate said. “I’ve been a member for 50 years at Bondi. I’ve never seen this sort of thing before. You know, the sheer magnitude of the level of water and the power of the water coming through must’ve just been horrendous.”
Tate added that on the pool deck around 15 glass panels were splintered, floors were damaged, and cupboards and firehoses were ripped off the walls. It was “quite extraordinary,” he said.
South of Botany Bay at Cronulla Beach, lifeguard Steve Winner said the beach, along with parts of the pavement behind it and electrical infrastructure, had been damaged by 4-meter (13-foot) waves.
Authorities warned on Thursday of further hazardous surf with the potential to cause coastal erosion and damage from the Illawarra region south of Sydney to the Hunter region north of Sydney.
