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Venezuelan and Chinese authorities inaugurated an air connection between the two countries on June 28th. Photo: Taken from social media

A new air bridge between Venezuela and China could drive Asian migration to the U.S. through Nicaragua

The new connection with China will expand Conviasa's flight network, which increased its flights to Managua in May

Amid the surge in migration through Nicaragua, a new air connection between China and Venezuela was inaugurated on Friday, June 28, by the Venezuelan airline Consorcio Venezolano de Industrias Aeronáuticas y Servicios Aéreos SA (Conviasa), as part of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

The move comes amid increasing migration of Chinese citizens who enter Panama and Honduras irregularly on their way to the United States. According to official data from the National Institute of Migration of Honduras (INMH), these migrants enter Honduras from Nicaragua.

Thus, the first direct commercial flight between China and Venezuela via Conviasa will take place on October 27, 2024.

Internet

At a ceremony at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, La Guaira state, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil, China’s representative for Latin America and the Caribbean, Qiu Xiaoqi, Minister of Popular Power for Transportation, Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, and Chinese Ambassador to Venezuela, Lan Hu, celebrated the opening of the air connection.

“Conviasa is gifting us this first promotional flight, which will allow a direct connection between Caracas and Guangzhou in a few hours, so the Chinese community can come to Venezuela and our entrepreneurs, investors, and government officials can travel directly to China with our flagship airline,” said the Venezuelan Foreign Minister.

New Connection Completes Flow to Nicaragua

The new air connection between China and Venezuela comes nearly two months after Conviasa announced an increase in flights between Caracas and Managua starting on May 5th, operating from Tuesday to Sunday.

The Venezuelan airline also offers flights between Havana, Cuba, and Managua on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

This increase in flights to Managua came nearly two months after the United States announced visa restrictions for operators of air, land, and sea transportation who facilitate migrant flights to Nicaragua.

The new connection between China and Venezuela completes a flight network that includes Cuba, Nicaragua, China, and Venezuela. Since 2021, when Daniel Ortega’s regime implemented the migratory springboard through Nicaragua, the migration of Chinese citizens through this country has significantly increased.

This direct connection between the Asian giant and Venezuela reduces the number of stops and the time it would take for Chinese migrants seeking to reach American soil through the facilities available in Nicaragua.

Between 2021 and June 27, 2024, at least 21,612 Chinese nationals crossed into Honduras irregularly, possibly from Nicaragua, according to data from the National Institute of Migration of Honduras (INMH).

The data shows that from January to June 27 of this year, 8,396 Chinese nationals entered Honduras irregularly via land routes.

Of the total number of Chinese nationals who have entered Honduras irregularly between 2021 and June 27, 2024, at least 9,226 are between the ages of 31 and 40, while approximately 5,693 are between the ages of 41 and 50.

A data compilation by LA PRENSA using public information from the National Institute of Migration of Honduras (INMH), as of July 1, 2024, reveals that between 2021 and June 27 of this year, at least 996,256 migrants — primarily from Venezuela, Cuba, Haiti, China, and India — have crossed overland into the neighboring northern country.

U.S. concerned about Ortega’s migratory springboard

On June 4, the U.S. Department of State stated that it will continue to implement measures to prevent the regime of Daniel Ortega and Rosario Murillo from maintaining permissive policies that encourage irregular migration by using Nicaragua as a “migration springboard” through the facilitation of charter flights for migrants.

Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Central America in the U.S. Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Courtesy

“We are very concerned about the permissive environment that the Ortega-Murillo regime is creating and what they are doing to make money off of migrants,” said Eric Jacobstein, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs at the U.S. Department of State.

On the other hand, Jacobstein stated that Nicaragua is the main promoter of irregular migration through charter flights. “People traffickers work with travel agents and charter airlines to bring migrants to the Western Hemisphere, primarily through Nicaragua,” Jacobstein said.

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