A flight of the US airline Eastern at Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, Venezuela. Photo: Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace of Venezuela.
Amid the ongoing US military deployment in the southern Caribbean, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an advisory to commercial flights, urging them to “exercise extreme caution” when overflying Venezuelan airspace. This warning, which mentions a “deterioration of the security situation” and increased military activity, raises concerns about an escalation of Washington’s threats against Venezuela.
The warning issued by the FAA involves the Flight Information Region (FIR) at Venezuela’s Maiquetía International Airport, an extensive low-altitude airspace that includes areas of the southern and eastern Caribbean. The alert underscores that the “potentially hazardous situation” could pose a risk to civilian aircraft at all altitudes, both during overflight and during the arrival and departure phases at regional airports.
The FAA text is explicit in warning that “threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes,” extending the risk even to airports and to aircraft on the ground within the aforementioned region. This broad-spectrum warning coincides with the growing presence of US military assets in waters off the Venezuelan coast.
The US agency’s advisory comes just days after the arrival in the southern Caribbean of the USS Gerald R. Ford, the largest and most technologically advanced aircraft carrier of the US fleet. Its deployment reinforces a significant military contingent that Washington has maintained in the region since mid-year, intensifying pressure on Venezuela.
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Since the start of this operation, the US has justified the deployment under the pretext of combating drug trafficking in the region. The US government claims—without any evidence—that President Nicolás Maduro’s administration is an integral part of a drug trafficking network, an accusation categorically rejected by Caracas, which views the contingent as a direct threat to Venezuelan sovereignty.
As part of this operation, US forces have reportedly destroyed some 20 vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, resulting in the deaths of at least 83 people on board, belonging to Venezuela, Colombia, and Trinidad and Tobago. UN experts and other legal experts have called these killings extrajudicial executions involving excessive use of force in international waters.
In this context of overt military and political pressure on Venezuela, the issuance of an air alert of this nature is seen as a potential precursor to a greater escalation. The subtle combination of warnings to civil aviation and a show of force with state-of-the-art weaponry has created a scenario of high tension and uncertainty in the Greater Caribbean region.
(Telesur)
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/SC/DZ
