Six airlines cancel Venezuela flights after U.S. warning

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CARACAS – Six airlines canceled flights to Venezuela on Saturday, an industry group said, after the U.S. aviation regulator warned of the dangers of “increased military activity” amid a major buildup of U.S. forces in the region.

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Spain's Iberia, Portugal's TAP, Chile's LATAM, Colombia's Avianca, Brazil's GOL and Caribbean's Trinidad and Tobago have suspended flights to the country, said Marisela de Loaiza, president of the Association of Airlines of Venezuela (ALAV).

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She did not specify how long the flight suspension would last.

Panamanian airlines Copa Airlines, Spanish Air Europa and PlusUltra, Turkish Airlines and Venezuelan LASER continue to operate flights.

The US Federal Aviation Administration on Friday urged civilian aircraft in Venezuelan airspace to “exercise caution” due to “the deteriorating security situation and increased military activity in or around Venezuela.”

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“Threats may pose a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including during the flyover, arrival and departure stages, as well as airports and aircraft on the ground,” it said.

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Washington sent aircraft carrier strike groupother Navy warships as well as stealth aircraft in the region – a deployment he said was aimed at curbing drug trafficking but had raised fears in Caracas that the goal was regime change.

A U.S. terrorism designation goes into effect Monday for a drug cartel allegedly led by leftist Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro, a move that some say could presage military action against his government.

Since early September, Washington's forces have struck more than 20 suspected drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, 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 been heightened by the campaign and accompanying military buildup.

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