Venezuela bans six international airlines as tensions with US escalate

Original article by Guardian staff and agencies in Caracas

Venezuela has banned six international airlines, accusing them of “state terrorism” after the carriers suspended flights to the country following a warning from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

Venezuela’s civil aviation authority announced late on Wednesday that Spain’s Iberia, Portugal’s Tap, Colombia’s Avianca, Chile and Brazil’s Latam, Brazil’s Gol and Turkish Airlines would have their operational permits revoked for “joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government and unilaterally suspending air commercial operations”.

Last week, the FAA warned airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around” the country.

Caracas said the FAA had no jurisdiction over its airspace.

The Portuguese foreign affairs minister, Paulo Rangel, on Thursday called Venezuela’s decision to revoke the airlines’ operating rights “totally disproportionate”. He said Portugal, where the airline Tap has its headquarters, had tried through its embassy in Caracas to persuade Venezuelan authorities to reinstate operating rights, adding Portugal had “no intention of canceling our routes to Venezuela, and that, obviously, we only did so for security reasons”.

The US has made its largest military deployment to the Caribbean in decades amid worsening relations with Venezuela to combat, it has claimed, the role of the president, Nicolás Maduro, in supplying illegal drugs that have killed Americans.

Maduro has denied the accusations and said Donald Trump was seeking to oust him.

In a statement on Monday, the International Air Transport Association said Venezuelan authorities had given international airlines a 48-hour deadline to resume flights or risk losing their rights to fly to the country.

Several international airlines had cancelled flights to Venezuela in recent days, ignoring the deadline. Iberia said it wished to restart flights to Venezuela as soon as full safety conditions were met.

Avianca announced its intention to reschedule cancelled flights to Caracas for 5 December in a statement on Wednesday. The company declined to comment on the restrictions imposed by Venezuela.

Air Europa and Plus Ultra had suspended flights but did not have their permits revoked.

The international airline Copa and its low-cost Wingo unit continue to operate in Venezuela, and domestic airlines flying to Colombia, Panama and Curaçao are still in operation.