The Federal Aviation Administration is urging pilots to use extreme caution when flying in or near Venezuelan airspace, citing a rapidly deteriorating security environment and increased military activity around the country.
According to The Associated Press, in a notice published Friday, the FAA said the situation in Venezuela presents “a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes,” including planes taking off, landing, or even parked on the ground.
The agency did not specify the exact nature of the threats but made clear that pilots should be alert to heightened danger.
The warning comes at a time of intensifying pressure from the Trump administration on Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. The United States does not recognize Maduro as the country’s legitimate leader and has repeatedly sought to isolate him on the world stage. He also faces narcoterrorism charges in the U.S.
In recent months, the U.S. military has flown bomber aircraft close to Venezuela’s coastline, sometimes as part of training exercises simulating a potential strike. The Pentagon has also deployed the aircraft carrier USS Gerald R. Ford to the region, along with several destroyers — forming what officials describe as the largest American military presence in the Caribbean Sea in a generation.
The administration has additionally carried out a sweeping campaign targeting small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific that it accuses of smuggling drugs into the United States. Those operations, which began in early September, have resulted in the deaths of more than 80 people, according to officials.
Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation, said such FAA notices are not unusual in zones of active or potential conflict.
“I wouldn’t take it as necessarily there’s any kind of attack is imminent because I’ve seen these issued many times before,” Schiavo said. “But as a pilot myself, I’d certainly heed it.”
Schiavo noted the warning could signal that the U.S. is preparing for possible Venezuelan military action — or planning additional operations of its own targeting drug-trafficking vessels. “It’s hard to read into this notice and know what is behind it,” she added.
The Pentagon referred all questions about the warning to the FAA, which confirmed the notice and said it will remain in effect for 90 days.
