Havana/Cuban Vice Foreign Minister Carlos Fernández de Cossío warned this Saturday about the “danger” of a possible military aggression by the United States to “overthrow with violence” the Government headed by Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela.
“The danger of military and terrorist aggression against Venezuela is growing, with the aim of violently overthrowing the Government of that sister nation. A coup by the United States against Our America and its long path to independence,” the Cuban Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs said on social networks.
For two months, the United States has maintained a large-scale military deployment in the waters of the Caribbean Sea close to Venezuela under the argument of fighting drug trafficking.
The US campaign began in September and, to date, has consisted of bombing civilian boats allegedly linked to illicit narcotics trafficking. These attacks have spread to Pacific waters and have left more than eighty people dead so far.
Since the beginning of the tensions, “what it considers Washington’s “pretexts” for eventual aggression “cannot be accepted legally or morally.”
Various airlines from Europe and America They canceled their flights to Venezuela this Saturdayafter the United States Federal Aviation Administration issued an international warning the day before that urged “extreme caution” when flying over the South American country and the southern Caribbean Sea.
The Spanish airline Iberia was the first to make the decision by canceling its flights to Venezuela – the first of them scheduled for next Monday – and informing that it will evaluate the situation to decide when it will resume its operations. Company sources told EFE that Iberia adopted this decision in line with what other airlines are doing regarding what is happening in Venezuela.
The number of Iberia commercial flights to Venezuela is five weekly. Friday and Sunday are the only days that there were no scheduled flights to that country, according to the sources consulted.
For its part, the Portuguese airline TAP canceled a flight scheduled for today and another for next Tuesday to Venezuela. A TAP source specified in response to EFE that they have adopted this measure to guarantee the safety of passengers and crew, “in accordance with international recommendations.”
“TAP confirms that flights TP170, scheduled for November 22 and 25 to Venezuela, were canceled. This decision is derived from the information issued by the United States aeronautical authorities, which indicates that safety conditions are not guaranteed in Venezuelan airspace, especially in the Maiquetía flight information region,” he explained.
The source of the airline, under state control and in the process of reprivatization, assured that all passengers were informed of the cancellation of these routes and will be able to request a refund, while saying they regret “the inconvenience caused.”
“We have not canceled flights for the next two days, we are evaluating it depending on security conditions”
In the same sense, the Colombian airline Avianca canceled its flights this Sunday, while Wingo indicated that it maintains its operations normally in the neighboring country. “We canceled today’s flights due to operational adjustments and we are evaluating the situation like all airlines,” a source from Avianca, which has two daily flights from Bogotá to Caracas, told EFE.
Wingo, another Colombian airline that also flies to Venezuela, has not canceled its flights at the moment and is awaiting the evolution of the situation. “We have not canceled flights for the next two days, we are evaluating it depending on security conditions, etc.,” a company spokesperson told EFE.
Also, the Brazilian Gol announced that it canceled its flights to Caracas scheduled for this weekend.
Gol had planned a flight this Saturday from the Guarulhos international airport, in the metropolitan area of São Paulo, to the capital of Venezuela and another on Sunday, but both were canceled, according to company sources told EFE.
The airline informed passengers with tickets for those flights that they can “reschedule their trips, request a credit or request a refund directly.”
Cuba, a historical ally of Chavismo, has warned from the beginning of the tensions that “what it considers to be Washington’s “pretexts” for possible aggression against Venezuela “cannot be accepted legally or morally.”
This Saturday, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, shared a letter sent by the president of Cuba, Miguel Díaz-Canel, to Maduro on the eve of his birthday in which he considered that Caracas “will emerge victorious” against what he called “new imperial threats.”
He also announced the letters he has received from the presidents of Russia, China, Nicaragua and Belarus, all allies of Chavismo, who ratified their support for Nicolás Maduro, on the eve of his birthday.
Also, the Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino López, said that “no air-naval deployment” will take away Venezuela’s independence after mentioning the United States military exercises in Trinidad and Tobago, an island that is about 11 kilometers from the nearest coast of the South American country.
In a broadcast this Saturday on the state channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), Padrino stated that “no threat, no air-naval deployment, no matter how powerful or intimidating it may pretend to be” can take away Venezuela’s right to continue its path of “freedom and independence.”
