CARACAS, Tuesday March 14, 2006 | Update
The United States could obstruct operations of Venezuelan
airlines if the Venezuelan Government removes US flights next
March 30th, US Ambassador William Brownfield declared Tuesday.
Brownfield told TV news channel Globovisión that he
expected the National Civil Aviation Institute (Inac) not
to remove the flights to Venezuela of US airliners; otherwise,
"the US Transportation Department could lay also the flights
of Venezuelan airlines to the United States."
Venezuelan airlines Aeropostal and Santa Bárbara fly
to the United States on a weekly basis.
"In such a situation, neither Venezuela, nor the United States
win. Surely enough, nor wins the safety of air passengers
between Venezuela and the United States. Only some airlines
associated to other countries win, and I cannot think that
this is either the desire of Venezuela or the United States,"
the diplomat added.
04:17 PM. Western Hemisphere. "Damned empire; I curse you one thousand times; some day you will be finished off and wrecked. I curse you one thousand times, empire." This is the least that President Hugo Chávez has uttered to refer to the US government. In urging the Bolivarian Armed Forces to prepare for war, he said that a US raid on Venezuela through Colombia would trigger and spread over the region "the 100-year war."