Americans confirm Venezuelan airspace violations

WILLEMSTAD, WASHINGTON - A spokesman for the U.S. Consulate in Curaçao confirms that on Friday, November 6 an aircraft of the Forward Operation Location (FOL) stationed on the island violated the Venezuelan airspace.

“An aircraft dash-8 inadvertently flew into Venezuelan airspace on a counter-drug mission, which is the only mission the FOL has. This has happened because of a navigation error,” said the spokesman.

The Venezuelan Minister of Defense, Vladimir Padrino said that during a 30-minute period the plane twice entered Venezuelan airspace over the tiny archipelago of Los Monjes on Friday while performing what appeared to be a reconnaissance mission in the Gulf of Venezuela, which is also bounded by Colombia.

The incident was reported by Caracas but was denied by the Americans in the first instance.