TAP is among a number of airlines that have cancelled flights in and out of Venezuela this weekend, as elsewhere sources have told Reuters that the Trump administration is “considering overthrowing” the regime of Nicolás Maduro, ‘within the next few days’.
In a statement sent to Lusa yesterday, when it cancelled its first flight, TAP said the decision “”stems from information issued by the aeronautical authorities of the United States of America, which indicates that safety conditions in Venezuelan airspace are not guaranteed, particularly in the Maquetia flight information zone.”
Since then, five other airlines – Spanish company Iberia, Colombian Avianca, Brazil’s GOL, Chile’s Latam and Caribbean Airlines from Trinidad and Tobago – have also cancelled their flights.
Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association, told the France-Presse news agency that civil aviation authorities were warned of “an increase in military activity” as part of the deployment of US forces to the Caribbean.
The warning came from FAA, the US Federal Aviation Administration, which described a “potentially dangerous situation” for commercial flight operators flying over the region.
“Operators are advised to exercise extreme caution when operating in the Maiquetía flight information region (corresponding to airspace controlled by Venezuela, which also includes parts of the southern and eastern Caribbean) at all altitudes, due to the deteriorating security situation and increased military activity in or around Venezuela,” said the FAA statement.
“The threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight, arrival and departure phases of flight” the text continues, noting that airports and aircraft on the ground are also at risk.
As Lusa explains, “since August, Washington has maintained a significant military presence in the area, notably with half a dozen warships, officially to combat drug trafficking destined for the United States.
“In recent weeks, the United States has carried out approximately 20 air strikes in the Caribbean and the Pacific against vessels that it accuses – without presenting evidence – of transporting drugs, causing a total of 76 casualties.
Venezuela is accusing the Americans of using the pretext of drug trafficking “to impose regime change” in Caracas and seize its oil.
In a report today, Reuters refers to US sources saying that in this latest phase in US operations, “options under consideration included attempting to overthrow Maduro”, who has doggedly held on to power since 2013. The sources intimate a time scale of “the coming days”.
Maduro meantime has said that ‘Venezuelan citizens and the military’ will resist any such attempt.
