The cancellation of 464 flights to and from Puerto Rico, and eventual changes in the travel itineraries of 48,000 passengers, was part of the toll on the local tourism industry of the U.S. government’s military operation to capture the president of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro.

Of the 48,000 passengers impacted, 320 were transferred by the government from the Luis Muñoz Marin International Airport in Carolina to one of six hotel rooms that were set up as part of an initiative of the Jenniffer Gonzalez administration to assist tourists. Of these, only 25 spent the night in these provisional spaces, the deputy secretary of the governor’s office, Itza García confirmed Sunday.

“For the moment, what we have is that, apart from the 25 people who stayed overnight yesterday (Saturday), the others made arrangements on their own to stay in different hotels and have been able to reschedule their flights,” said Garcia, who, immediately, could not specify how many of those 25 people, if any, remain on the island receiving government assistance.

Meanwhile, 214 calls were received through the 1-800-981-7575 number, a telephone line set up by the Tourism Company to assist visitors. “Flights resumed today (Sunday) in the early morning. The first flight that arrived was from the city of Houston, at 12:14 a.m. The first flight that left Puerto Rico was at 3:44 a.m., to the city of Miami. Right now, the airport is working without any problem,” the official said during a press conference at La Fortaleza.

“As of 9:30 a.m., we have reported 25,073 passengers leaving the airports and 22,771 passengers arriving,” Garcia said.

This morning, four cruise ships disembarked on the island: the Grand Princess, the Ritz Carlton Yacht Collection, the Royal Caribbean Brilliance of the Seas and the Norwegian Epic, it was reported.

For her part, Secretary of State Rosachely Rivera said the State Department received about 200 e-mails, mostly related to the cancellation of trips. “With regard to passport issues, which is a constant work we do, none have arrived,” the official said. The address provided for those services is info@estado.pr.gov.

It is estimated that just over 5,000 Venezuelans reside in Puerto Rico.

By order of the federal government, U.S. commercial airlines halted operations Saturday in the Caribbean during the military mobilization in the South American country, which used facilities and equipment set up in Puerto Rico.

Only airlines based outside the United States, such as Copa Airlines, Air Canada and Caribbean Airlines, continued their flights. Avianca and Iberia also halted their air traffic during the period of the restriction.

"Puerto Rico played a strategic control in this mission, and the Armed Forces will continue to count on Puerto Rico to achieve its mission of bringing security to all of the Americas," the deputy secretary of the Interior said.

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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.