Venezuela suspends flight rights for six foreign airlines amid US tensions

2 weeks ago 13

Airlines including Iberia and TAP had paused flights to Venezuela aft warnings astir ‘heightened subject activity’ successful the area.

Published On 27 Nov 2025

Venezuela has pulled the operating rights for six overseas airlines that paused flights to the South American state amid rising tensions with the United States.

But connected Thursday, overseas officials and hose representatives blasted that determination arsenic a “disproportionate” response.

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A time earlier, Venezuela’s civilian aviation authorization announced it had revoked permits for aerial question companies, including Spain’s Iberia, Portugal’s TAP, Colombia’s Avianca, Brazil’s GOL, Turkish Airlines and LATAM, which has office successful Chile and Brazil.

It accused the airlines of joining “actions of authorities coercion promoted by the United States”.

The Venezuelan authorities has been connected borderline successful caller months, amid speculation of a imaginable US subject attack.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had warned airlines past week of “potentially hazardous situation” successful Venezuelan airspace owed to a “worsening information concern and heightened subject activity”. That, successful turn, prompted immoderate airlines to cancel flights.

But connected Thursday, officials similar Portuguese Foreign Minister Paulo Rangel criticised Venezuela’s effect to the cancellations.

Rangel said his country’s embassy would scope retired to the Venezuelan authorities and emphasise that flights had lone been temporarily paused owed to security concerns.

“What we person to bash is, done our embassy, make the Venezuelan authorities alert that this measurement is disproportionate, that we person nary volition of canceling our routes to Venezuela, and that we lone did this for information reasons,” helium said.

Tensions betwixt the US and Venezuela person been astatine a precocious constituent since the instrumentality of US President Donald Trump for a 2nd word successful the White House.

The Trump medication has overseen an tremendous buildup of subject forces successful the Caribbean region, connected the premise of combatting amerciable cause trafficking.

But Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has decried the US unit movements arsenic a precursor to attacks aimed astatine destabilising his government, and helium has responded with subject preparations of his own.

The US authorities has agelong opposed Maduro for his grounds of quality rights abuses, recently recognising the Venezuelan opposition arsenic the rightful victor of the 2024 statesmanlike election, contempt Maduro’s claims otherwise.

Since September, the US has carried retired astatine slightest 21 lethal aerial strikes connected boats and different nautical vessels it accuses of transporting drugs. An estimated 83 radical person been killed.

The Trump medication has claimed, without evidence, that immoderate of the radical killed were linked to transgression groups successful Venezuela. International rights officials and ineligible scholars see those strikes to beryllium extrajudicial killings, successful usurpation of planetary law.

After the US warned airlines past week of information risks implicit Venezuela, flights were abruptly cancelled, amid fears of subject action.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) said connected Monday that Venezuelan authorities had fixed airlines 48 hours to resume flights to the state oregon look the suspension of their operating rights.

“Keep your planes, and we volition support our dignity,” Venezuelan Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said successful effect to the cancellations.

The quality work AFP quoted an anonymous root from Iberia who explained that the hose hoped to resume flights “as soon arsenic possible, arsenic soon arsenic afloat information conditions are met”.

But the root added that Iberia could not run successful areas of precocious risk.

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