A CIA employee helps Vietnamese evacuees onto an Air America helicopter from the top of 22 Gia Long Street, near the US Embassy in Saigon, 1975. Photo: Bettmann/Getty Images/file photo.
Caracas (OrinocoTribune.com)—On Thursday night, the Venezuelan government authorized the overflight of US military aircraft for an emergency and catastrophe drill scheduled at the US Embassy in Caracas. This decision comes less than five months after the US military aggression on January 3, during which President Nicolás Maduro and Deputy Cilia Flores were kidnapped and over 100 people were killed, including 32 Cuban and 47 Venezuelan soldiers.
In a highly scrutinized statement, the Venezuelan Ministry for Foreign Affairs reported that Washington requested authorization for the exercise scheduled for Saturday, May 23. The drill includes US aircraft landing at the embassy headquarters in Caracas. Foreign Minister Yván Gil delivered a televised address reading the statement, noting that the Red Cross would participate in the exercise, though further details were not provided.
The foreign minister noted that the activity aims to simulate an emergency evacuation to address “potential medical situations or catastrophic contingencies.” He added that the operation will be coordinated “with the corresponding Venezuelan aeronautical authorities,” who will supervise “the overflights required for said drills.” He noted that the drill involves the overflight of two US aircraft, while local media reported that helicopters are involved.
Propuesta de Oswaldo Rivero "Cabeza 'e Mango" para el sábado, cuando la embajada de Estados Unidos haga su "simulacro" 🇻🇪🇻🇪🇻🇪 pic.twitter.com/HfZnwzGJYh
— Luigino Bracci Roa (@lubrio) May 22, 2026
By Friday, reports surfaced that the official statement and video of Minister Gil’s address had been scrubbed from all government websites and platforms, raising questions about whether the drill remains active or has been canceled.
Venezuelanalysis.com wrote on social media: “Looks like the Venezuelan gov’t has deleted this statement and the video of FM Yván Gil reading it in a press conference from all its platforms. But it’s not clear if that means that the drill is canceled or still going forward. As expected, the announcement drew fierce backlash.”
Fierce backlash from Chavismo
The authorization of the drill triggered swift and intense criticism from within Chavista circles, especially since it came just days after the controversial deportation of former Minister Alex Saab to the US.
Chavista activist Oswaldo Rivero, known as “Cabeza ‘e Mango,” called on supporters to take to the streets on Saturday with Venezuelan flags and banners to condemn what he described as a new imperialist interference.
“I propose that on Saturday, when the US military exercise is in full swing in Venezuela, together with the Venezuelan government, we all go out with the Venezuelan flag, with banners rejecting the interference of the US government, telling Donald Trump, ‘Get out, Donald Trump, you came to plunder our countries, you came to plunder our riches, you came to intimidate and repress our people,… Get the US government out of Venezuela,’” Rivero stated, while also calling for support for former Bolivian President Evo Morales.
Similarly, former Venezuelan Minister Mary Pili Hernández questioned the decision on social media. She stated that in decades of diplomatic relations between Caracas and Washington, “no government has had the audacity to authorize the flight of military aircraft over our territory,” without mentioning the delicate balance of power after January 3. She further questioned whether the next step would be to allow a US military base in the country.
Many grassroots Chavistas, like Luigino Bracci, also drew parallels between the proposed drill and iconic US embassy evacuations, most notably the 1975 fall of Saigon. This reaction underscores a deeply rooted anti-imperialist sentiment against repeated US-driven Venezuelan government decisions within the Chavista base.
While recent developments have created undeniable internal frictions, observers note they have yet to fracture the solid unity between grassroots organizations and the Chavista leadership, which remains in control of the country despite intense meddling from Washington.
Amid the growing controversy, local media reported that the statement and accompanying video were deleted just hours after their release, leaving the status of the scheduled military exercise uncertain.
The full unofficial translation of the now-deleted statement follows:
Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela Official Statement
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs the Venezuelan people that, at the request of the Embassy of the United States of America in Caracas, the competent national authorities have authorized an evacuation drill to take place on Saturday, May 23, to address potential medical situations or catastrophic contingencies as part of regular security and diplomatic protection protocols.
The activity will be carried out in coordination with the corresponding Venezuelan aeronautical authorities, who are responsible for authorizing and supervising the overflights required for said exercise, as well as with other national bodies and institutions involved in care and security protocols.
As part of the drill, two aircraft will perform controlled overflights over the city of Caracas and will conduct landing operations at the facilities of the Embassy of the United States of America.
Likewise, it will feature the coordination and participation of the Venezuelan Red Cross in the evacuation and emergency response exercise.
This information is offered to the Venezuelan population in a timely manner for their proper knowledge. All coordination corresponding to this activity has been channeled through the Ministry of the People’s Power for Foreign Affairs’ Directorate of Protocol, Immunities, and Privileges.
Caracas, May 21, 2026.
Precedents
Washington and Venezuela frame these exercises as routine administrative protocols. US embassies and consulates worldwide are required to conduct an annual Crisis Management Exercise (CME) to test their preparedness for natural disasters, conflicts, and other emergencies. Typically, a trainer from the US State Department’s Crisis Management Training division facilitates these operations alongside an expanded Emergency Action Committee. However, what the US empire disguises as standard readiness frequently serves as a psychological tool to project power and maintain a permanent threat over host nations.
In reviewing global diplomatic history, Orinoco Tribune found no precedent for a sovereign nation recently subjected to direct US military aggression to formally and publicly authorize US warplanes to overfly its capital and land within an embassy compound. This unprecedented combination—a highly publicized declaration and official diplomatic authorization for foreign military assets to land in the heart of Caracas in a raw post-conflict environment—stands without historical parallel. For an empire that, just months ago, split Venezuelan blood, this drill represents a blatant normalization of its military presence under the guise of diplomatic cooperation.
The closest comparable event occurred in Croatia in March 2019. A US Air Force unit deployed from Aviano, Italy, to conduct a large-scale evacuation exercise with its Embassy in Zagreb, which included helicopter overflights and a landing on embassy grounds with the host government’s cooperation. Yet, that comparison falls completely flat: Croatia is a subservient NATO ally deeply integrated into the Western imperial military apparatus, making its compliance fundamentally different from a nation that has historically stood at the vanguard of regional anti-imperialist resistance.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
OT/JRE/SF
