200 Venezuelans Return To Their Country From Chile

In the early hours of Tuesday, 200 Venezuelans returned to their country on a chartered flight from the public company Conviasa. The repatriation of this group occurs days after Venezuelan migrants were victims of acts of xenophobia in Iquique City, Chile.

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"Today 200 compatriots return to Venezuelan territory thanks to the "Return to the Homeland" program. Venezuela welcomes you with open arms. Mission accomplished, President Nicolas Maduro. We will win!,” Foreign Affairs Minister Felix Plasencia said.

Hours before, the Vice Chancellor for Latin America, Rander Peña, affirmed that: "From Santiago de Chile, we are fulfilling the wish of 200 Venezuelans who return to their country thanks to President Nicolas Maduro."

“To those who return today, we say: You have made the best decision. It's reunion time!,” he added.

On Sep. 24, the Chilean Police expelled 150 Venezuelan families from the Bolivar Square in Iquique City, where they were lived at an improvised camp. The next day, about 3,000 Chileans took to the streets and threatened to lynch the migrants.

Regarding the aggressions that Venezuelans suffered in Iquique, Peña argued that "in the midst of a situation of exploitative work, Venezuelans were victims of the actions of a small group of people from Iquique, which does not represent the feelings of the Chilean people."

So far, 26,733 Venezuelans have returned through the Return to the Homeland program funded by the Maduro administration. They have returned from countries such as Brazil (7,285), Peru (6,590), Ecuador (5,080), Chile (2,662), Argentina (1,156), Trinidad and Tobago (833), Colombia (764), Panama (552), Dominican Republic (535), and Italy (404).