Major airlines have been warned of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warning comes just days after the US navy’s largest aircraft carrier, USS Gerald R Ford, arrived in the Caribbean Sea, in what has been interpreted as a show of military power and a possible threat to Venezuela’s Nicolas Maduro regime.
The Trump administration does not see Mr Maduro, who faces narcoterrorism charges in the US, as the legitimate leader of the South American country.
The administration has carried out a series of strikes on small boats in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean that it accuses of ferrying drugs to the US, killing over 80 people since the campaign started in early September.
Mr Trump has indicated that military action would expand beyond strikes by sea, saying the US would “stop the drugs coming in by land”. The US government has released no evidence to support its assertions that those killed in the boats were “narcoterrorists”, however.
The FAA notice on Friday cited the “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela” and said threats could pose risks for aircraft at all altitudes.
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There has been a huge American military build-up in the region in recent months, including at least eight other warships and F-35 aircraft.
The arrival of the USS Gerald R Ford rounds off the largest increase in US firepower in the region in generations.
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The Ford’s carrier strike group, which includes guided-missile destroyers and squadrons of fighter jets, transited the Anegada Passage near the British Virgin Islands on Sunday morning, the US navy said in a statement.
Direct flights by US passenger or cargo carriers to Venezuela have been suspended since 2019, but some US airlines fly over the nation for some South American flights.
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The order requires US airlines to provide the FAA with at least 72 hours advance notice of planned flights, but stopped short of preventing flights over the country.
The FAA said since September there has been an increase in Global Navigation Satellite System interference in Venezuela, which in some cases caused lingering effects throughout a flight, as well as “activity associated with increasing Venezuela military readiness”.
“Venezuela has conducted multiple military exercises and directed the mass mobilisation of thousands of military and reserve forces,” the FAA said, adding that Venezuela had at no point expressed an intent to target civil aviation.
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The agency said the Venezuelan military possessed advanced fighter aircraft and multiple weapons systems capable of reaching or exceeding civil aircraft operating altitudes, and there was potential low-altitude risk from air defence systems and anti-aircraft artillery.
Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation, said the US may be anticipating military action by Venezuela, or it could be planning further action against drug boats. She said it was difficult to read into this notice.
When asked about the new warning, the Pentagon directed questions to the FAA, which simply confirmed the warning was issued and that it would last for 90 days.
