The United States is preparing to launch a new phase of operations targeting Venezuela in the coming days, as six airlines suspended their flights to the country on Saturday amid a growing American military buildup in the region, Reuters reported, citing four US officials.
Reuters was not able to establish the exact timing or scope of the new operations, nor whether US President Donald Trump had made a final decision to act. Reports of looming action have proliferated in recent weeks as the US military has deployed forces to the Caribbean amid worsening relations with Venezuela.
Two of the US officials said covert operations would likely be the first part of the new action against Maduro. All four officials quoted in this article spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of impending action by the United States.
Maduro, who has ruled since 2013, accuses Trump of trying to overthrow him, insisting that Venezuelans — including the military — will resist any such attempt.
Meanwhile, six airlines cancelled flights to Venezuela on Saturday, an industry group said, after the US aviation regulator warned of dangers from “heightened military activity” amid a major buildup of American forces in the region.
Spain’s Iberia, Portugal’s TAP, Chile’s LATAM, Colombia’s Avianca, Brazil’s GOL and Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean have suspended their flights to the country, said Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Venezuelan Airlines Association (ALAV).
She did not specify how long the flight suspensions would last.
Panama’s Copa Airlines, Spain’s Air Europa and PlusUltra, Turkish Airlines, and Venezuela’s LASER are continuing to operate flights for now.
The US Federal Aviation Administration on Friday urged civilian aircraft in Venezuelan airspace 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.
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 concrete 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.
