The sky in dispute: How the United States manipulates civil aviation to pressure Venezuela

Published at: 02/12/2025 02:20 PM

On the brink of aggression against Venezuela, the United States has opened a new front: airspace.

Through unilateral warnings, administrative decisions without technical support and coercive measures disguised as aeronautical protection, Washington attempts to present our country as an “insecure” area, when the evidence shows exactly the opposite.

What is at stake is not civil aviation security, but the use of the international aeronautical system as a geopolitical weapon to harass a sovereign country that does not bow to imperial interests.

From Category 1 to a covert political attack

For years, the Venezuelan Aeronautical Authority fully complied with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO).

This was recognized when the United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) itself certified Venezuela in Category 1, as a sign of comprehensive compliance with international standards.

But when the political confrontation deepened, the United States changed the discourse: without carrying out formal audits or technical studies, it degraded Venezuela under generic allegations, never proven.

A political “degradation” disguised as a technical evaluation.

The NOTAM (Notice To Air Mission) as a weapon: from 2019 to 2025

In 2019, the FAA issued a warning prohibiting U.S. aircraft from flying below 26. 000 feet above Venezuela. The alleged motive was not technical but political: “instability”.

Years later, in 2025, the United States re-issued a NOTAM with alarmist language that called for “extreme caution” in the Maiquetia FIR (Flight Information Region) and established additional requirements for operating flights, without presenting concrete evidence of operational risks, technical failures, verified interference or real threats.

These types of warnings not only distort international perception, they artificially raise operating costs, create uncertainty and pressure operators to suspend routes, even when safety is guaranteed.

The open violation of the Chicago Convention

U.S. President Donald Trump went further by publicly stating that “Venezuelan airspace is closed.”

This statement:

• violates Article 1 of the Chicago Convention

• does not know the exclusive sovereignty that each nation has over its sky

• constitutes direct interference in internal affairs

• represents an misuse of civil aviation for political purposes.

Only Venezuela can decide on the operational status of its airspace.

No foreign Head of State can “shut it down” by a unilateral declaration.

The region shows double standards

While the United States accuses Venezuela of alleged aeronautical risks, other nearby regions face real problems, such as unidentified aircraft, intense military activity and legitimate operational alerts.

However, these cases are not the subject of media campaigns, sanctions or diplomatic pressure.

Why?

Because the objective is not to protect civil aviation, it is to punish Venezuela politically.

The truth that disarms the American narrative

Despite Washington's attempts to sow operational fear, the reality is stubborn:

• Venezuelan airspace continues to operate normally.

• Procedures, surveillance and infrastructure meet international standards.

• Air operations are proceeding without incidents that support North American alarmism.

The most revealing fact came after the American NOTAM itself: A flight of the Mission Back to the Homeland, coming from the United States, entered Venezuela without any inconvenience, without risks or security events.

If Venezuelan airspace were a “danger”, that flight - originating in US territory - would not have taken off, would not have been authorized and would not have landed normally.

The normal and safe operation of that flight completely dismantles the narrative constructed by Washington.

A sovereign sky in the face of imperial pressure

There is no technical, operational or aeronautical evidence to justify U.S. measures.

What does exist — and is evident — is:

• A politically motivated pattern of unilateral measures

• Direct violations of international aviation law.

• Instrumental use of civil aviation to manufacture negative perceptions.

• Attempt to isolate Venezuela by creating fear among operators and insurers.

• A country whose airspace remains operational, safe and sovereign.

The United States intends to turn a technical instrument into a tool of coercion.

But every flight that takes off, flies over or lands without incident proves that the truth is on Venezuela's side.

The Venezuelan sky remains a sky of peace, order and national dignity.

A sky that neither manipulated sanctions nor NOTAM nor imperial declarations can extinguish.

Mazo News Team