Representatives of the Venezuelan community in the Dominican Republic described as positive the decision of the governments of Venezuela and Dominican Republic to reactivate the consular services and reestablish the bilateral air connection, a measure announced on Sunday through a joint statement of both chancelleries.
The president of the Dominican-Venezuelan Chamber of Commerce, Luis Enrique Meneses, and the general coordinator of the Venezuelan diaspora in the DR, Yuraima Amayaconsidered that the reestablishment of the flights and consular relations represents a significant relief for the Venezuelan diaspora residing in Dominican territory, especially for those who were affected by the suspension of these services since 2024.
Meneses explained that the interruption of the flights direct forced many Venezuelans to move to their country of origin through alternate routes such as Curacao, Bogotá or Panama, which “considerably” increased travel time and costs.
“A Caracas–Santo Domingo flight is one hour and 20 minutes, but with the stopovers it became two or three hours and doubled the costs a lot,” he said.
He indicated that the suspension of air and consular connectivity directly impacted people with expired passports already Venezuelan parents with children born in Dominican Republicwho could not complete essential procedures without traveling to Venezuela.
In that sense, he stated that the reactivation of the consular services will allow normalizing processes such as the issuance and renewal of documents through the consular route.
From a business perspective, Meneses expressed satisfaction with the possible return of airline operations that covered the Santo Domingo-Caracas route, such as Laser and Venezuelanwho suspended their flights after the measures adopted in 2024.
When referring to the bilateral economic relationsMeneses indicated that, in recent 16 yearsthere has not been a significant commercial relationship between both countries due to the sociopolitical situation and Venezuelan economy.
As explained, the Chamber has registered around 60 companies with Venezuelan capital in the country, which generate close to 1,800 jobs direct, occupied mostly by dominican citizens.
In that order, he clarified that any progress in economic relations between Dominican Republic and Venezuela would be given gradual way and that, until now, the recent changes They have not had a direct impact.
Waiting for processes
For her part, the general coordinator of the Venezuelan diaspora in the Dominican Republic, Yuraima Amayareported that the announcement was already published by the Dominican Foreign Ministry and that the community remains waiting for the corresponding procedure to be established by the authorities.
Amaya pointed out that the consular reopening will allow you to solve problems related to Venezuelan parents with children born in Dominican Republicas well as updating documents that the consular office can issue on behalf of the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry in the country.
- “We are waiting for the development of the process,” Amaya stated briefly.
The agreement
He joint statement of the chancelleries of Venezuela and Dominican Republic establishes that in the coming days the consulates in Caracas and Santo Domingo will operate again, in addition to instructing the aeronautical authorities to reactivate the commercial air connection, suspended after the diplomatic distancing that occurred in 2024. The Civil Aviation Board (JAC) has already authorized, by resolution, the reactivation of the flights between the two nations.
