GUANA ISLAND – A man from Brush Park was supposed to be making his way home from Guana Island on Saturday. Following the overnight military operation in Venezuela, he woke up to check his flight and found it was canceled.
“I think I was supposed to leave at like 11 a.m.,” Will Friedman said.
He’s been on Guana Island for about a week with his whole family.
“I am staying in a room with my little brother, and we both woke up and immediately got on Twitter, or X, and saw what was going on in Venezuela,” he said. “I was like, ‘gosh, I wonder if this is going to impact our flights?’”
Sure enough, the flight was canceled.
“American Airlines basically said we can’t rebook you,” he said.
He says there are two airports nearby, and both were closed.
There’s also typically only one or two flights a day out of the airports.
At one point, the only option for them was going to be flying out on Jan. 11, but the hotel said they had to leave by Tuesday morning.
Friedman is eager to get back to work, too.
“It’s like, do you take a boat to Miami? That’s three days,” he said. “Everyone on our island was leaving today or tomorrow.”
While they sort out a situation, everyone is trying to enjoy their time.
“It will be a great story to tell someone someday,” he said.
Friedman says it seems they will be able to leave Monday, but that’s still contingent on air traffic and availability.