VENEZUELA BATTLES THROUGH XMAS

WITH AIRSPACE CLOSED, MANY LOCALS ARE STRANDED ABROAD OR AT HOME WITHOUT FAMILY.

- STORY: ANNIE CORREAL / NYT

Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, dance during a Christmas celebration in the San Agustin neighbourhood, in Caracas on Dec 23.

(Ariana Cubillos / nyt)

Many thousands of Venezuelans have found themselves stranded abroad or alone at home this holiday, prevented from gathering with relatives after President Donald Trump declared the airspace around Venezuela closed more than three weeks ago.

International airlines have almost entirely halted service, leaving only a few dozen ageing aircraft from Venezuela's own carriers to take people in and out of the country of nearly 30 million. People have thronged the remaining flights, causing prices to rise.

Many in Venezuela's vast diaspora, some of whom fled amid economic collapse, abandoned their return plans after their flights home were cancelled.

"That day, I cried a lot," said Vanessa Rojas, 37, a Venezuelan who lives in Argentina. She had saved for two years to buy tickets for herself and her young daughter, she said, to return home for Christmas.

The difficulty of going home for the holidays comes at a tense moment for Venezuelans both in and outside the country.

Many have been watching anxiously as the Trump administration has ramped up pressure on the country's autocratic leader, Nicolás Maduro, whom many blame for the economic and humanitarian crisis — deepened by US sanctions — that has driven millions to migrate over the past decade.