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A US military airplane was caught flying over Venezuelan air space
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Caracas, May 19. ABN.- A United States military airplane was caught last Saturday flying over Venezuelan air space without permission, specifically over La Orchila and Aves islands and adjacent areas, as it was denounced this Monday by the Minister of the People's Power for Defense, General Chief Gustavo Rangel Briceño.
Therefore, the Venezuelan Minister of Foreign Affairs summoned to declare the Ambassador of United States to Venezuela, Patrick Duddy, whom should attend this Tuesday to the Ministry of the People's Power for Foreign Affairs headquarter, in Caracas, and hold a meeting with the Minister
Nicolás Maduro in order to give explanations.
In a press conference, the Minister Rangel Briceño read a fragment of the conversation held between the pilot of the North American airplane and a staff member of Maiquetía Air Control (Venezuela, Vargas State), in which the former assures that it is an “airplane of United States Army” identified as “Sierra Three Bravo” and he assures that the point of departure and arrival is Curaçao.
In this regard, Venezuelan Minister of Defense pointed out that flying over La Orchila is forbidden to any kind of airplane, thus, it represents an aggravating circumstance to the situation.
“At the end of the conversation, the pilot says that he was not aware of his location, however, we do not believe him. We think this was a conscious action carried out by the United States Army and it is just another link in the provocations chain against our country”, he added.
Furthermore, Rangel Briceño said, on behalf of National Government, that “we ratify our peaceful vocation, but also our capability to defend and make sovereignty be respected (...) It is possible that these kind of things happened on the past without being noticed or denounced. It is also
possible that they are testing us, but we have to make clear that we do have equipments to face them and to cover our entire air space”.
Regarding the incursion of 60 Colombian military men in Venezuelan territory, the Minister pointed out that Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs already activated the mechanisms to solve these kind of conflicts, discuss the details of the case, and determine the people responsible of
these acts through the participation of two commissions appointed by both governments.
Translated by Ernesto Aguilera |
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| ABN 04:05 pm 19/05/2008 |
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