WILLEMSTAD - The government of Curaçao, specifically the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of General Affairs and Foreign Relations, have met twice with the Venezuelan Consul General on Thursday, December 23. According to the government in a press release, the meetings went well and both parties are waiting for authorization from the Venezuelan authorities for the humanitarian flights.
During the meeting, the Venezuelan Consul indicated that due to the Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, the government of Venezuela has decided to introduce new requirements to travel to that country through charter flights. E new requirements are not official yet and these were not communicated to other countries yes. Curaçao has made sure that all the passengers comply with the Venezuelan requirements for the flight back to their country.
The government of Venezuela, through the Consul-General, says that it recognizes its responsibility with the passengers stranded in Curaçao since these are its citizens. The Consul-General also indicated that she will assume her responsibility to assist the stranded passengers and to inform them about the developments. The Consul also indicated that there are certain challenges to this. The Curaçao government has offered assistance and shared information which helped the Consul with various organizations that are able to help the passengers.
Curaçao, through its diplomatic channels like the Dutch Embassy in Caracas, will continue to do its utmost to receive the authorization for these flights as soon as possible. The hope is to transport these passengers back to their country by this weekend.