The agency said in a statement that the two sides would make joint efforts to promote stability, support economic recovery and advance political reconciliation.

While their diplomatic relations have been improving since the US military captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January in a surprise raid, the announcement of formal bilateral ties marks a hugely symbolic step.

President Donald Trump ordered troops to seize Maduro and his wife, bringing them to a Manhattan court to face allegations of weapon and drug offences, which they deny.

The US embassy in Caracas, which closed in 2019, has already reopened, and Washington has appointed a new diplomat in Venezuela.

The Venezuelan government said on Thursday it was willing to advance a “new stage of constructive dialogue, based on mutual respect”.

It said the relationship must result in the “social and economic happiness of the Venezuelan people”.

But the statement from Caracas made no reference to a transition or future elections, unlike the US state department’s.

The US has accused Maduro – who is due to stand trial this month in the US – and other members of his government of leading a criminal organisation involved in activities such as illegal mining and drug trafficking.

Sources told the BBC that more diplomatic staff from the US embassy in Bogotá, Colombia, are expected to be transferred to Caracas soon. The move will make it much easier for officials to negotiate face-to-face and provide consular services.

The US state department said its engagement was focused on helping Venezuelan people move forward through a “phased process that creates the conditions for a peaceful transition to a democratically elected government”.

After a visit to Venezuela, US Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum told reporters on the runway in Caracas on Thursday on his way back to the US that it was a “brilliant strategic move” to intervene in Venezuela before Iran.

The US and Israel launched military action on Iran on 28 February. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was killed during the first wave of strikes.

Burgum, who leads President Trump’s National Energy Dominance Council, added on Thursday that the intervention would help ensure that “oil will flow to America”.

Since the US military strikes on Venezuela and seizure of Maduro, the US has struck new oil deals with Venezuela.

Washington has allowed the country to sell sanctioned oil with US oversight, and Venezuela has changed its law to allow more foreign investment in the oil sector.

On Wednesday, Venezuela’s interim president Delcy Rodríguez and Burgum said the two countries would work together to develop mining in the country.

Along with having the largest proven oil reserves in the world, Venezuela is rich in gold, diamonds, critical minerals and rare earth minerals – including some of those used in mobile phones.

US President Donald Trump is a long-time critic of Maduro, who returned to office in January following an election marred by vote-rigging allegations. The results were widely rejected by the international community.

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the US would double its already announced reward of $25m (£18.6m), and said Maduro was directly linked to drug smuggling operations.

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said the new reward was “pathetic” and labelled it “political propaganda”.

“We’re not surprised, coming from whom it comes from,” Gil said, accusing Bondi of attempting a “desperate distraction” from headlines related to backlash over the handling of the case of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

During Trump’s first term, the US government charged Maduro and other high-ranking Venezuelan officials with a range of offences, including narco-terrorism, corruption and drug trafficking.

At the time, the US Department of Justice claimed Maduro had worked with the Colombian rebel group Farc to “use cocaine as a weapon to ‘flood’ the United States”.

In a video posted on X on Thursday, Bondi accused Maduro of coordinating with groups like Tren de Aragua – a Venezuelan gang that the Trump administration has declared a terrorist organisation – and the Sinaloa Cartel, a powerful criminal network based in Mexico.

She claimed the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had “seized 30 tons of cocaine linked to Maduro and his associates, with nearly seven tons linked to Maduro himself”.

Maduro has previously rejected US claims he has direct involvement in drug trafficking.

Bondi’s comments are an extension of long-running tensions between the US and Venezuelan government – but the attorney general did not provide any further indication over how the government envisioned the renewed appeal and cash incentive would yield results.

Maduro – who is leader of the United Socialist Party and succeeded Hugo Chavez in 2013 – has been repeatedly accused of repressing opposition groups and silencing dissent in Venezuela, including with the use of violence.

He weathered protests in the wake of last year’s contested election and has retained his grip on power.

But in June, Hugo Carvajal – formerly the head of Venezuela’s military intelligence – was convicted of several drug trafficking charges after being arrested in Madrid and put on trial in the US.

Carvajal had been a feared spymaster who went by the name El Pollo, or The Chicken, but fled Venezuela after calling on the army to back an opposition candidate and overthrow Maduro.

He initially denied the drug charges but later changed his plea to guilty, fuelling speculation he had cut a deal with US authorities for a lesser sentence in exchange for incriminating information about Maduro.

The UK and EU announced sanctions against Maduro’s government following his return to office earlier this year.

Here’s where things stand on Saturday 7 June 2025:

• A man who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador in March has been returned to the US to face federal criminal charges
• Kilmar Ábrego García has been accused of participating in a trafficking conspiracy over several years
• At a press conference on Friday, Attorney General Pam Bondi confirmed he had landed in the US
• Ábrego García played a “significant role” in smuggling illegal immigrants on more than 100 trips throughout the country, Bondi says
• His lawyer calls the charges “preposterous”, adding: “What happened today is an abuse of power”

Kilmar Ábrego García is back in the US facing smuggling charges

Kilmar Ábrego García is set to appear in court later today after being returned to the US to face immigrant smuggling charges.

Here are where things stand currently:

• The 29-year-old is set to be charged with “alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling” after a grand jury indictment
• The US Attorney General Pam Bondi says Ábrego García is “a danger to our community”
• Ábrego García’s lawyers say they and his family learned about his return “on ABC News,” and called the charges against him “preposterous”
• The White House says his return has nothing to do with his mistaken deportation and say he’s only come back to the US because “a new investigation has revealed crimes SO HEINOUS…only the American Justice System could hold him fully accountable”
• His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, feels “mixed emotions” – his lawyer says. She says Vasquez Sura is happy that he is back on US soil, although it’s under “very egregious” circumstances
• Ábrego García’s return will reveal details about his treatment at the notorious El Salvador prison Cecot, another of his lawyers says

Here is what US politicians are saying about the case

US politicians have been divided in their response to the return of Ábrego García. Democrats cast it as a victory for due process while Republicans commented on the smuggling charges announced by prosecutors against him.

Maryland’s US Senator Angela Alsobrooks, a Democrat, said Ábrego García “should not have been deported. Even the Supreme Court demanded this President follow the law and return him to the U.S. It is right that due process will be afforded to him.”

Fellow Democratic Representative Jasmine Crockett of Missouri said of the return: “The GOP broke the law to deport this man—then decided to indict him … This is Trump’s America: lawless, reckless, and cruel.”

Republican Alabama Senator Katie Britt reposted a version of the charges against Ábrego García She added: This is who Democrats are fighting for. This is who Senate Republicans are fighting to protect American families from.”

Republican Representative Brandon Gill of Texas said this was part of a Democrat strategy.

“Liberals want illegal aliens to stay in our country and be given amnesty, so that they can then vote Democrat.”

Glenn Ivey, a Democrat from Maryland, rebuffed the accusations and said advocacy for Ábrego García’s return wasn’t about him personally. “I went to El Salvador and advocated for Kilmar’s return because he was entitled to due process under our constitution,” he said. “Kilmar will now get his day in court. I hope he receives the fair trial that he is guaranteed.”

Analysis: The White House is hitting two birds with one stone

The Justice Department says Kilmar Ábrego García’s return today makes moot the standing legal challenges to return him.

A cloud has been hanging over the Trump administration since US courts ordered them to bring Ábrego García back to the United States. President Trump stonewalled the order, which pushed the country toward a constitutional crisis.

By bringing Ábrego García back for the purpose of prosecution, Trump avoids the appearance that he’s bending to the court’s demands while also resolving the legal stalemate.

At the same time, we saw the White House daring Democrats and the so-called “fake news media” to defend the man that they are accusing of being a violent human trafficker and an abuser of women and children.

However, Trump’s critics have been reminding the White House that the matter was never about whether Ábrego García is guilty of crimes – it has been about him getting a chance to defend himself and being given due process in the US courts.

President Trump on case: ‘It’s a disaster…this was a pretty bad guy’

We’re now getting some comments from President Trump about Ábrego García’s return.

Speaking to the press, Trump declines to say if he had spoken to the president of El Salvador to facilitate the return, or whether it was his own call.

“He should have never have had to be returned, if you take a look at what they found in the grand jury,” Trump says.

“It’s a disaster, a whole disaster when you look at him with his antics. For the Democrats who backed him, this was not the man from Maryland,” the president continues.

“This was a pretty bad guy,” Trump adds.

Ábrego García’s attorney tells BBC that he and his family are ‘everyday people’ who are being politicised

Chris Newman, one of the attorneys for Ábrego García and his family, is speaking with the BBC and outlines they are relieved in a way that at least he is back in the US and now the government will be forced to prove their case. He says Ábrego García will have the chance now to “defend himself” both in court and in public opinion.

“Kilmar and his family are just everyday people,” he says. “To be the subject of this type of cruelty and this type of politicalisation and scapegoating is something that one could not imagine.”

He said the right to due process is integral to the US courts system and argues the Trump administration was demonising immigrants as a way of “arrogating authoritarian power”. He said this type of case has implications for everyone.

White House deputy chief of staff says ‘new evidence’ brought Garcia back

The White House’s deputy chief of staff, Stephen Miller, has written a number of posts on X within the last hour about the case.

In one, he reposts the Van Hollen statement we brought you earlier.

Responding, Miller writes: “There is no more ‘process’ for deporting a crim alien with a final removal order, no matter how much he is admired by Dems. He’s here because new evidence has resulted in a massive criminal indictment.

“He will be tried, jailed and then deported again to El Salvador.”

Sharing a separate post detailing a previous court motion, Miller calls Garcia a “monster” and an “illegal predator”.

As a reminder, Miller had been one of the architects of Trump’s immigration policies, including the travel ban during Trump’s first term in office.

Judge ordered some documents relating to case to be made public earlier this week

The return of Garcia today follows shortly after a federal judge ordered certain documents relating to the case to be unsealed earlier this week, external.

The order was filed on Wednesday by District Judge Paula Xinis in response to a motion brought by a number of different media outlets to unseal court records relating to the case. One of the documents will still have redactions.

The United States Department of Homeland Security had put forward arguments of national security and preventing the dissemination of national security.

Ábrego García’s return has ‘nothing to do with’ mistaken deportation – White House

More now from the White House, where the deputy press secretary has said Ábrego García’s return has “nothing to do with his original deportation”.

“There was no mistake,” Abigail Jackson continues in a post on X.

She adds: “He’s returning because a new investigation has revealed crimes SO HEINOUS, committed in the US, that only the American Justice System could hold him fully accountable.”

• As a reminder: The Trump administration previously admitted the 29-year-old’s deportation was an “administrative error”.

Ábrego García’s wife has ‘mixed emotions’, lawyer says

Ama Frimpong is up again, who says Ábrego García’s family were not told about his return to the US in advance and his wife Jennifer Vasquez Sura learned about it in the press.

She says Vasquez Sura feels “mixed emotions” – she is happy that he is back on US soil, although its under “very egregious” circumstances.

“He should not be held in a prison in Tennessee,” she adds, but at home with his family.

It’s “imperative that communication be established immediately,” says Frimpong, adding that she wants to hear her husband’s voice.

Legal team says they learnt of charges in the media

Simon Sandoval Moshenburg says he and the rest of Ábrego García’s legal team learnt of the new charges against their client and his return to the US “just like everyone else” – on ABC News.

He says he understands there will be a hearing this afternoon and a longer hearing at a later date.

Ábrego García reportedly in good health

Mosheburg now tells those listening that lawyers have not had any updates regarding Ábrego García’s physical and mental wellbeing – but that the latest report was that he was in good health.

A little earlier, lawyers said “bad treatment” he suffered while in jail in El Salvador will now come to light.

Ábrego García will reveal experience in notorious prison, lawyer says

Moshenberg says Ábrego García’s return will reveal details about his treatment in El Salvador.

He says he is confident Ábrego García will not be convicted, but even if he is, a judge’s order still prevents him from being returned to El Salvador.

Moshenberg continues that Ábrego García is one of the first people to leave Cecot, the notorious prison in El Salvador where he was being held.

The revelations will “strengthen his case that he can’t be sent back to that prison where he will be tortured,” he says.

“It’s going to be very interesting to hear how the Trump administration can justify sending people to that prison once Kilmar call tell people about the experiences that he suffered there.”

Lawyers concerned about Ábrego García’s constitutional rights

We’re now hearing from Chris Newman, one of the family’s lawyers.

He says the Trump administration has lodged a case in the court of public opinion, presenting “no evidence” of allegations against him, and that he is concerned Ábrego García may not get a fair trial.

He adds that he is particularly concerned his constitutional rights are not being respected.

Newman goes on to say the White House is treating Ábrego García “the same way” it treats “all non-white immigrants – as if guilty until proven innocent”.

‘Let him talk to his wife and children’, lawyer urges

Next up is Ama Frimpong, another of Ábrego García’s lawyers, who says he needs to have contact with his family.

For three months his wife and children have been wondering when their loved one will come home, she says.

She adds that the government is still “delaying reunification”, still “play[ing] games”.

“Let him talk to his wife and children,” she continues, adding that the family has “suffered enough”.

Ábrego García charges are ‘preposterous’, lawyer says

Kilmar Ábrego García’s lawyers are now responding to his return to the US to face criminal charges.

Simon Sandoval Moshenberg starts first, calling the events an “abuse of power” and the “exact opposite” of due process. He says Ábrego García should have been allowed due process before he was punished and sent abroad.

This matter could have “gone away” had the Trump administration admitted it made a mistake in deporting Ábrego García in the first place, he says.

He calls the charges “preposterous”.

He says Ábrego García will vigorously defend himself.

‘The administration had the ability to bring him back’ – Ábrego García’s lawyerpublished at 23:02 6 June23:02 6 June

“Today’s action proves what we’ve known all along – that the administration had the ability to bring him back and just refused to do so,” Ábrego García’s lawyer Andrew Rossman has said in a statement according to the Reuters news agency.

His attorneys are planning a news conference that is set to begin in a moment.

His lawyers have previously argued that he has never been convicted of any criminal offence, including gang membership, in the US or in El Salvador.

His wife, Jennifer Vasquez Sura, has also denied he is a MS-13 gang member and described him as “a loving partner and father”.

Although since he was deported it came to light that Sura had filed a protective order petition against him in 2021, alleging that he had physically attacked her on multiple occasions. She said in a later statement that she had decided not to follow through with the court process at the time.

El Salvador president: No more margaritas under custodypublished at 23:00 6 June23:00 6 June

President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele has written on X following the news about Garcia’s return.

He says:

As I said in the Oval Office: 1. I would never smuggle a terrorist into the United States. 2. ⁠I would never release a gang member onto the streets of El Salvador. That said, we work with the Trump administration, and if they request the return of a gang member to face charges, of course we wouldn’t refuse. No more margaritas under custody

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador

The mention of margaritas is a nod to when Democratic Sen Van Hollen visited Ábrego García in the country. The senator said members of El Salvador’s government facilitated the visit and he accused them of setting up some type of tropical drink in front of them during the visit. The senator said neither he or Ábrego García ordered or drank them.

This is not about the man, it’s about his constitutional rights’ – Sen Van Hollen

Senator Chris Van Hollen – who visited Kilmar Ábrego García in El Salvador in April – has released a statement now that he has returned.

“For months the Trump Administration flouted the Supreme Court and our Constitution. Today, they appear to have finally relented to our demands for compliance with court orders and with the due process rights afforded to everyone in the United States,” he says.

The Maryland senator continues: “As I have repeatedly said, this is not about the man, it’s about his constitutional rights – and the rights of all.”

“The administration will now have to make its case in the court of law, as it should have all along.”

White House: Ábrego García to meet ‘full force of American justice’

The White House press secretary has just released a statement about the indictment against Ábrego García. She says the charges prove “the unhinged Democrat Party was wrong, and their stenographers in the Fake News Media were once again played like fools”.

In a statement on X, Karoline Leavitt calls him an “illegal alien terrorist, gang member, and human trafficker”.

She says he will now return to the US to “meet the full force of American justice”.

Here’s what we know so far

In the past few hours, news of the return of Maryland man Kilmar Ábrego García – who was mistakenly deported to El Salvador – began circulating.

Since then, Attorney General Pam Bondi has given an update. She says:

• Kilmar Ábrego Garcia has “landed in the United States to face justice”
• He will be charged with “alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling” after a grand jury indictment
• After Ábrego García serves his sentence in the US – if convicted of any crimes – he will then return to El Salvador, which was agreed with El Salvador’s president
• Bondi says the grand jury found that Ábrego García had played a “significant role” in an alien smuggling ring
• “These facts demonstrate Ábrego García is a danger to our community,” she says, after claiming – without evidence – that co-conspirators allege he was involved in a murder

Bondi links case to fight against MS-13 gangpublished at 22:34 6 June22:34 6 June

Bondi says that Ábrego García’s charges deal with allegations of smuggling, but links his actions to those of MS-13 – an international criminal gang she says the Trump administration is fighting against.

She says the US government learned through the recent arrest of an MS-13 member in Virginia (unrelated to Abrego Garcia’s case) that they “bring young children” into the United States and groom them to commit “violent crimes throughout our country”.

Quote Message

[MS-13] is highly organised, it is very dangerous, and they are living throughout our country – but no more, because they are being arrested, they are being prosecuted and being convicted and deported when appropriate.

Pam Bondi, US Attorney General

Ábrego García’s return to the US is only due to indictment – DOJ

Ábrego García’s return to the US is only due to indictment – DOJ

Bondi is asked whether Garcia’s return is linked to different courts ordering the administration help facilitate Garcia getting back to the US.

Todd Blanche, a former lawyer to Trump and now deputy attorney general, takes this one.

He says there is a “big difference between the state of play before and after the indictment”.

Garcia was returned because there was an arrest warrant presented to the government in El Salvador, Blanche tells the news conference.

“So there’s a big difference there,” Blanche says.

If convicted, Ábrego García will serve sentence in US – Bondi

A grand jury in Tennessee indicted Abrego Garcia on May 21, Bondi continues, and says “this investigation has been ongoing”.

The indictment decision came months after Ábrego García was deported in March.

Todd Blanche, Donald Trump’s former personal lawyer who is now with the Department of Justice, steps in to answer a question about Abrego Garcia’s deportation and now return. He explains Abrego Garcia was brought back to the US because there is now an arrest warrant for him.

Bondi says that Ábrego García will be prosecuted in the US. If convicted, he will serve his sentence in the US and then be returned to El Salvador.

Bondi alleges he trafficked weapons, drugs into US

Bondi goes on to claim that Ábrego García trafficked weapons and narcotics into the US.

She adds that a co-conspirator alleges he was involved in the murder of a rival gang member’s mother and a separate allegation that Ábrego García allegedly solicited naked photos of a minor. Bondi does not provide evidence of these claims and he is not facing charges related to those allegations.

“These facts demonstrate Ábrego García is a danger to our community,” she says.

Bondi alleges Ábrego García played ‘significant role’ in smuggling ring

Bondi continues to say that the grand jury found that Ábrego García had played a “significant role” in an alien smuggling ring.

She says they found it was his “full time job” and alleges that he had made more than 100 trips smuggling people throughout the country – bringing in thousands of illegal immigrants to the US, Bondi says.

Attorney General says Ábrego García will serve sentence in US if convicted

US Attorney General Pam Bondi thanks the President of El Salvador for helping return Ábrego García to the US.

She then says after Ábrego García serves his sentence in the US – if convicted of any crimes – he will then return to El Salvador.

Ábrego García has landed in the US, Attorney General announces

Kilmar Abrego Garcia has “landed in the United States to face justice”, US Attorney General Pam Bondi says, beginning a news conference.

He will be charged with “alien smuggling and conspiracy to commit alien smuggling” after a grand jury indictment, she says.

Who is Kilmar Ábrego García?

Ábrego García, 29, came to the US from El Salvador illegally around 2011.

In 2019, he was arrested with three other men in the US state of Maryland and detained by federal immigration authorities.

A judge granted him protection from deportation on the grounds that he might be at risk of persecution from gangs in his home country.

Ábrego García was living with his wife and child under this protected legal status in Maryland until he was deported on 15 March this year to El Salvador’s notorious Cecot prison, in what the Trump administration admitted was an “administrative error”.

At the same time, the US government alleges he is a “verified” member of the violent El Salvador gang MS-13 – claims that his lawyer denies.

Kilmar Ábrego García on way back to US, media reportspublished at 21:57 6 June21:57 6 June

Kilmar Ábrego García – a 29-year-old from El Salvador who was deported from the US in March – is on his way back to the US, media reports.

He is reportedly going to face criminal changes when he returns.

Ábrego García faced a legal battle in the courts, which ultimately reached the US Supreme Court, over whether the US government should help “facilitate” his return to his home in Maryland.

The White House, which accused him of being a member of the transnational Salvadorian gang MS-13, a designated foreign terrorist organisation has not yet confirmed his return.

Stay with us as we bring you the latest.

El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, wrote on social media that 238 members of the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua had arrived, along with 23 members of the international MS-13 gang, on Sunday morning.

Their arrival in the central American nation came after a federal judge blocked US President Donald Trump from invoking a centuries-old wartime law to justify the deportations – something Bukele made fun of in a later post.

“Oopsie… Too late,” he said.

The move by the US to send alleged criminals from other countries to El Salvador was an arrangement US Secretary of State Marco Rubio previously called “the most unprecedented and extraordinary migratory agreement anywhere in the world”.

Bukele wrote that the detainees were immediately transferred to El Salvador’s Terrorism Confinement Center (Cecot) “for a period of one year”, something that was “renewable” – suggesting they could be held there for longer.

“The United States will pay a very low fee for them, but a high one for us,” he added.

Rubio confirmed the alleged gang members arrival in El Salvador and thanked Bukele, calling him “the strongest security leader in our region”.

Hours before, on Saturday evening, US District Judge James Boasberg ordered a halt to deportations covered by Trump’s proclamation, which invoked the Alien Enemies Act of 1798.

The law allows the government to detain and deport people threatening the country’s safety without due process.

Venezuela criticised invoking the wartime measure, saying it “unjustly criminalises Venezuelan migration”.

After hearing that planes with deportees had taken off, Judge Boasberg ordered them turned back, the Washington Post reported.

Rubio confirmed in a statement on Sunday that the deportations happened under the Alien Enemies Act, and made no mention of the judge’s ruling.

He said: “Hundreds of violent criminals were sent out of our country.”

A video attached to one of Bukele’s social media post shows lines of people with their hands and feet shackled being escorted by armed officials from the plane.

Some of the detainees are placed into the back of armoured vehicles, while others, hunched over as officers push their heads down, are forced onto buses.

The video also shows an aerial view of a long, winding police escort leading the buses into El Salvador’s notorious mega-jail Cecot.

The newly-built maximum-security jail is a proud achievement of Bukele’s, and part of his effort to crack down on the country’s organised crime.

The facility, which can hold up to 40,000 people, has been criticised by human rights groups for maltreatment of inmates.

The arrangement between the US and El Salvador is a sign of strengthening diplomatic ties.

“Thank you for your assistance and friendship,” Rubio told Bukele on Sunday.

El Salvador was the second country Rubio, the US’s top diplomat, visited after he was sworn in.

During that trip, which took place in February, Bukele made an initial offer to take US deportees, saying it would help pay for the massive Cecot facility.

The latest deportations under Trump’s second term are part of the president’s long-running crusade against illegal immigration in the US.

In January, Trump signed an executive order declaring Tren de Aragua and MS-13 as foreign terrorist organisations.

He won voters on the campaign trail, in part, by promising to enact the largest deportation operation in US history.

The agenda has so far not met expectations, with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents not meeting Trump’s daily quota for arrests.

A recent report suggested ICE agents had deported fewer immigrants in February than they had the same month a year prior during the previous administration under Joe Biden – 11,000 in February 2025, compared to 12,000 in February 2024 – according to NBC News.

The move is a major blow to the Venezuelan government as the license provided it, through joint ventures between the state-run oil company and US oil giant Chevron, with a crucial income in dollars.

Trump said he was revoking the licence – which gave Chevron permission to operate in Venezuela – because the government of Nicolás Maduro had failed to meet “electoral conditions” and had not transported “violent criminals” deported from the US at a quick enough pace.

Venezuela called the decision “damaging” and said it could increase migration to the US.

Trump made the announcement on Truth Social, writing that he was “hereby reversing the concessions that Crooked Joe Biden gave to Nicolás Maduro, of Venezuela, on the oil transaction agreement, dated November 26, 2022”.

He did not clarify which concessions he was referring to, but the only licence related to Venezuela granted that day was the one issued by the US treasury authorising Chevron to “resume limited natural resource extraction operations in Venezuela”.

The licence allowed Chevron to operate joint ventures with Venezuela’s state-controlled oil company PDVSA, but barred the US company from paying “any taxes or royalties to the Government of Venezuela”.

Chevron’s spokesman Bill Turenne said in a statement on Wednesday that “Chevron conducts its business in Venezuela in compliance with all laws and regulations, including the sanctions framework provided by US government”.

In a recent interview with the Financial Times newspaper, Chevron Chief Executive Mike Wirth argued that if Chevron was forced to pull out of Venezuela, it would allow companies from China and Russia to increase their presence and influence there.

He also warned that Venezuela’s economy could suffer more if Chevron left the country, which could drive further migration to the US.

The Venezuelan opposition, on the other hand, has in the past argued for the licence to be revoked, arguing that it provides the Maduro government with “a financial lifeline”.

The licence was granted in 2022 by the Biden Administration in an attempt to entice the Maduro government to allow free and fair elections.

It remained in place even after Venezuela’s government-aligned electoral council declared Maduro the winner of the presidential election in July 2024 – a result which has been refuted by the opposition and by a number of countries, including the US, which have recognised Maduro’s rival as the legitimate winner instead.

President Trump’s announcement came less than a month after his envoy, Richard Grenell, met with Nicolás Maduro in Caracas.

During his visit, Grenell secured the release of six US citizens who had been held in Venezuela, as well as a deal under which the Maduro government sent planes to the US to fetch deported Venezuelans.

In his Truth Social post, Trump said “the regime has not been transporting the violent criminals that they sent into our Country (the Good Ole’ U.S.A.) back to Venezuela at the rapid pace that they had agreed to”.

He added he was “therefore ordering that the ineffective and unmet Biden ‘Concession Agreement’ be terminated” as of 1 March.

Venezuelan Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez warned that US sanctions had in the past led to an increase of Venezuelans migrating to the US and that this was likely to happen again.

Stopping undocumented migration has been one of Trump’s main priorities since taking office.

The announcement had a swift effect on oil prices, which rose more than 1% on Thursday.

Reinaldo Araujo, a leader of the Vente Venezuela party in Trujillo state, had been suffering from health problems, which his wife said were not treated while he was in prison.

Vente Venezuela’s leader, María Corina Machado, said she held “the regime” of Nicolás Maduro responsible for Araujo’s death.

According to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory NGO, 20 political prisoners have died while in custody over the past few years.

Vente Venezuela said Araujo had been seized by masked men on 9 January during a protest on the eve of the swearing in of Nicolás Maduro for a third term as president.

His wife said he had been returning from a medical appointment and had merely been observing the protest when he was taken away.

He had been in state custody since then.

His wife accuses the authorities of failing to providing her husband with medical care until it was too late, even though she had warned them that his health had been deteriorating.

The head of the regional body Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, denounced Araujo’s death, writing on X that it was a “new atrocity of the regime”.

He added: “No more political prisoners, no more torture, no more death.”

Almagro has been an outspoken critic of Nicolás Maduro, accusing the Venezuelan leader of repressing the opposition in the run-up and the aftermath of July’s presidential election.

Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE), a body closely aligned with the government, declared Maduro the winner of the election without providing detailed voting tallies to back up their claim.

The OAS’s electoral observation department said it could not recognise the result because the CNE “was biased towards the government”.

Venezuela’s opposition coalition also refused to recognise the result, saying that voting tallies it had gathered, with the help of official election observers, showed that its candidate, Edmundo González, was the overwhelming winner.

The opposition also organised protests on the eve of Maduro’s swearing in and it was at one such event that Reinaldo Araujo was seized.

According to the Venezuelan Prison Observatory, hundreds of protesters were arrested in the days leading up to Maduro’s inauguration and sent to jails notorious for the mistreatment of detainees.

Among those seized was Rafael Tudares, the son-in-law of Edmundo González.

Mr Tudares’s wife says she has not been given any information about her husband’s whereabouts since he was taken away by the security forces on 7 January.

She also accused the government of holding her husband in order to exert pressure on Edmundo González, who is living in exile and has been meeting presidents across the region, many of whom have recognised him as the legitimate leader of Venezuela.

The announcement came after a meeting between President Nicolás Maduro and a senior Trump administration official, Richard Grenell, that led to the release of six US detainees held in Venezuela.

“Venezuela has agreed to receive, back into their Country, all Venezuela illegal aliens who were encamped in the U.S., including gang members of Tren de Aragua,” Trump wrote. “Venezuela has further agreed to supply the transportation back.”

Venezuela has not independently announced the deal.

A statement issued by the Venezuelan government said that migration was among the topics discussed by Grenell and Maduro, according to the Venezuelan state-sponsored broadcaster TeleSUR.

The earlier release of the six US detainees was announced on social media by Trump and Grenell. Their names have not been made public.

Grenell did not name the six men, who were seen dressed in light blue outfits used by the Venezuelan prison system.

At least nine people with US citizenship or residency are believed to be among more than 2,200 detained by Venezuelan authorities following nationwide protests over the disputed July 2024 election results, in which Maduro claimed victory.

His re-election was widely rejected by the opposition and international community, including the US. He was sworn in for his third term last month.

“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on X. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”

Trump hailed the move in a separate post, saying Grenell was bringing the six “home from Venezuela”.

Venezuelan state media said the discussions with President Trump’s envoy had been respectful.

After the meeting, Maduro said the talks had had “zero agenda” and that he sought a “new beginning in bilateral relations” with the US.

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier on Friday that Grenell’s visit did not mean US recognition of Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

The release of the men was announced on social media by Donald Trump and his special envoy, Richard Grenell.

Grenell – who published online a photo of the six on board his plane – said they had spoken by phone to President Trump to thank him.

Earlier, the White House had called on Venezuela to release “US hostages” – as well as agreeing to receive Venezuelan criminals deported by the US – or face consequences.

Grenell did not name the six men, who were seen dressed in light blue outfits used by the Venezuelan prison system.

“We are wheels up and headed home with these 6 American citizens,” Grenell posted on X. “They just spoke to @realDonaldTrump and they couldn’t stop thanking him.”

Trump hailed the move in a separate post, saying Grenell was bringing “six hostages home from Venezuela”.

In January, Caracas announced the capture of a group of “mercenaries” who included US citizens.

Venezuelan state media said the discussions with President Trump’s envoy had been respectful.

After the meeting, Maduro said the talks had had “zero agenda” and that he sought a “new beginning in bilateral relations” with the US.

However, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier on Friday that Grenell’s visit did not mean US recognition of Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate leader.

Maduro was sworn in last month for a third term as Venezuelan president, six months after disputed elections which the opposition and international community say he lost.

The official results of the July 2024 election have been widely rejected by the international community, including the US.

A social media account for Comando Con Venezuela, the political opposition group Machado leads, reported the arrest on Thursday.

“Maria Corina Machado was violently intercepted while leaving the gathering in Chacao,” the opposition group wrote, adding that government forces “fired” at the motorcycles that were transporting her.

It has since announced Machado’s release, dismissing reports that the brief detention was false.

Maduro’s government quickly denounced the incident as an effort to dent the administration’s reputation.

“The tactic of media distraction is not new, so no one should be surprised. Less so coming from fascists who are the architects of deception,” Information Minister Freddy Nanez said on social media platform Telegram after the reports of Machado’s arrest emerged.

Machado has been in hiding in recent months, following a government crackdown on dissent in the wake of the contested July 28 presidential election.

But she made a public appearance on Thursday, after calling on supporters to protest in a last-ditch attempt to block Venezuela’s President Maduro from clinging to power. He is set to be sworn in for another six-year term on Friday.

“They wanted us to fight each other, but Venezuela is united,” Machado, waving a Venezuelan flag, shouted to a few hundred protesters from atop a truck before her arrest.

Demonstrators at the rally chanted, “We are not afraid! We are not afraid!” Many also sang the Venezuelan national anthem as a mark of defiance against Maduro’s government.

Waves of antigovernment protests broke out following the July 28 election, when the electoral authority declared Maduro the winner without releasing the usual breakdown of voting tallies.

The opposition called the result fraudulent and has instead published its own copies of the voting tallies online. It says that documentation proves its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, is the rightful winner.

The Maduro government has responded to the outcry with what critics have denounced as heavy-handed repression. More than 2,000 people were arrested and an estimated 25 people were killed in the post-election crackdown.

Maduro has also accused Machado of leading a conspiracy to topple him. In September, a court also issued a warrant for Gonzalez’s arrest.

Standing before the National Assembly in the capital Caracas on Friday, Maduro took the oath of office with a pledge that his next term would be a “period of peace”.

But the lead-up to his inauguration was greeted with demonstrations and accusations of government repression and electoral fraud.

Protesters on Thursday took to the streets both in Venezuela and other countries with large Venezuelan diaspora communities, including Spain, Chile, Ecuador, Mexico and El Salvador.

At the rally in Caracas, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado came out of hiding for the first time in months to encourage supporters to maintain pressure on Maduro and his government.

She was briefly detained by security forces after her public appearance, according to her team. Other opposition leaders have been detained or face warrants for their arrest.

The opposition accuses Maduro, 62, of stealing last year’s July 28 election, and the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have recognised opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s legitimate president-elect.

Critics denounced a new wave of repression in the lead-up to Friday’s ceremony, with several activists and opposition figures arrested in recent days, prompting the UN to express alarm.

Just Thursday, at least 17 protesters were detained, according to a post on the social media platform X by Gonzalo Himiob of the NGO Foro Penal.

Maduro had ordered the deployment of thousands of police and soldiers to maintain security in advance of the inauguration, particularly in the capital Caracas.

Armed military personnel guarded the streets, many of which were closed off for the ceremony, and traffic was significantly lighter than usual as police manned numerous roadblocks.