If you wanted to fly into Caracas — Venezuela's capital — a year ago, you couldn't get there from the United States. You typically had to take a flight to another Latin American country, like Panama or Colombia, and switch to one of their airlines. That's because in March 2019, the United States Department of Transportation (DOT) suspended all direct commercial flights to the country. "American citizens will be, very shortly, able to go to Venezuela, and they'll be safe there," he said. American started operating in Venezuela in 1987, and before suspending service in 2019, served as the largest U.S. airline in the country.