When Erika Rolo heard that the United States would restart direct commercial flights to Venezuela, she began obsessively checking the American Airlines website.<\/p>\n
For months, she saw nothing. Then, just over a week ago, Ms. Rolo, a Houston resident who was born in Venezuela, found one: American Airlines 3599 from Miami to Caracas. She pounced, worried it would sell out quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have the tickets!\u201d she exclaimed in a call with her parents, who live in Caracas, the capital.<\/p>\n
On Thursday, Ms. Rolo joined revelers inside Miami International Airport, where they were feted with arepas, other fried delicacies and branded cookies that said, \u201cNew Service to Caracas\u201d before she boarded the first nonstop commercial flight between the United States and Venezuela in nearly seven years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s so emotional,\u201d she said, settling into seat 16F and holding one of the small Venezuelan flags passed out to passengers as they walked down the jet bridge.<\/p>\n
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony before the flight departed, officials from American Airlines, Miami-Dade County, the Trump administration and the Venezuelan government celebrated the most recent step in re-establishing ties between the two countries.<\/p>\n
It was the latest remarkable development between two countries that a few months ago were on the verge of an armed conflict, with the United States capturing and arresting Venezuela\u2019s leader.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor nearly seven years, there have been no direct commercial flights between our countries,\u201d Natalia Molano, a spokeswoman for the State Department, said at the news conference. \u201cUnder President Trump and his leadership, we\u2019re changing that today.\u201d<\/p>\n
What was not mentioned: It was Mr. Trump, during his first term, who banned commercial flights to Venezuela during an earlier standoff with Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, the country\u2019s president until he was seized by U.S. military forces in January.<\/p>\n
For decades, American Airlines and other major carriers reaped outsized profits in Venezuela, benefiting from the country\u2019s artificially elevated currency exchange rate. Venezuelans\u2019 cultural affinity with South Florida helped make American Airlines\u2019 hub in Miami particularly profitable.<\/p>\n
The distortions created by Venezuela\u2019s byzantine currency controls meant that Venezuelans with access to U.S. dollars could buy tickets for a fraction of their real cost. That created a travel bonanza to popular Venezuelan destinations such as Disney World and the Aventura Mall outside Miami.<\/p>\n
At its peak, in early 2014, American Airlines operated 48 weekly flights from Venezuela. The collapse of the Venezuelan economy later turned the boom into a bust<\/a>.<\/p>\n