Airlines cancel Venezuela flights amid US warnings and military buildup

After the United States warned major carriers about a “potentially hazardous situation” due to “heightened military activity” around the South American nation, six international airlines have suspended flights to Venezuela.

According to Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association, flights to the nation were all suspended on Saturday, along with Portugal’s TAP, Chile’s LATAM, Colombia’s Avianca, Brazil’s GOL, and Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean.

Iberia announced it would be suspending flights to the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, until further notice, while TAP announced it would cancel its flights for Saturday and the following Tuesday.

TAP informed Reuters news agency that its decision was influenced by the US notice, which stated that Venezuelan airspace’s safety is not guaranteed.

For the time being, Venezuela’s LASER, Spain’s Air Europa and PlusUltra, Panama’s Copa Airlines, Turkish Airlines, and Spain’s Air Europa and PlusUltra will continue to fly.

As tensions between the US and Venezuela soar, with Washington sending troops and the largest aircraft carrier in the world to the Caribbean as part of what it refers to as an anti-narcotics operation. However, Caracas claims that the operation is an attempt to remove Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro from power.

At least 83 people have been killed in at least 21 attacks on alleged drug boats carried out by the US military in the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The campaign began after President Donald Trump’s administration increased its reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest or conviction to $50 million, describing him as the “global terrorist leader of the Cartel de los Soles” and calling him the “global terrorist leader of the Cartel de los Soles.”

Meanwhile, President Trump has reportedly expressed doubts about whether Venezuela might be a target for military action, saying in a CBS interview earlier this month that he doesn’t believe Caracas was going to start a war.

When asked if Maduro’s time as president was up, he responded, “I would say yes.

Then, on Sunday, he said the US might meet with Maduro, and on Monday, he said, “I don’t rule out that.” Nothing is ruled out by me. Venezuela needs to be looked after only.

Days later, on Friday, the US Federal Aviation Agency (FAA) advised all flights in the area to “exercise caution” because of the threats that “at all altitudes, including during overflight, the arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or airports and aircraft on the ground” (at all altitudes).

Since Hugo Chavez’s rise in power in the early 2000s, tensions have dominated relations between Washington and Caracas.

Following Chavez’s passing in 2013, the relationship deteriorated even more.

In response to accusations of corruption, authoritarianism, and election fraud, successive US administrations have rejected Maduro’s legitimacy and imposed severe sanctions on Venezuela’s economy.

The US position has been weakened by the Trump administration. It accused Maduro of leading the Venezuelan drug cartel Cartel de los Soles (Cartel of the Suns), but without providing any supporting evidence, last week.

Conservative US hawks have been calling on Trump to oust the Maduro government in recent weeks.

Maduro has repeatedly stated his desire to talk with Washington and accuses the US of creating “pretexts” for war. However, he warned that his nation would exert pressure to defend itself.

According to the Venezuelan outlet Telesur, “No foreign power will impose its will on our sovereign homeland.”

They will face a great surprise, however, if they break the peace and continue to pursue their neocolonial goals. They will receive a truly monumental surprise, I repeat, so I ask that it doesn’t happen.

Maria Corina Machado, the president’s opposition leader in Venezuela, claimed that the election resulted from rigging the results and that overthrowing Maduro would not lead to regime change.

We don’t want a new regime, we say. We’re requesting that the people’s wishes be respected, and that this transition be peaceful, orderly, and irreversible, she told The Washington Post on Friday.

Machado, 58, has urged foreign investments and privatization of Venezuela’s oil industry.

Source: Aljazeera