The US aviation regulator issued a warning Friday to civilian aircraft in Venezuelan airspace, citing the dangers of “heightened military activity” amid a major buildup of American forces in the region.
The Federal Aviation Administration urged aircraft in the area to “exercise caution” due to the “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.”
“Threats could pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during overflight, the arrival and departure phases of flight, and/or airports and aircraft on the ground,” it said.
Washington has sent an aircraft carrier strike group, other Navy warships as well as stealth aircraft to the region — deployments it says are aimed at curbing drug trafficking but which have sparked fears in Caracas that regime change is the goal.
The warning to aircraft comes just days before a US terrorism designation takes effect for a drug cartel allegedly headed by leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro — a move that some believe could presage military action against his government.
Washington’s forces have carried out strikes against more than 20 alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing more than 80 people.
But the United States has yet to release evidence that the vessels it targeted were used to smuggle drugs or posed a threat to the country, and regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign and the accompanying military buildup.
