U.S. Grants Venezuela Leader Permission To Enter Airspace

@AFP
U.S. Grants Venezuela Leader Permission To Enter Airspace

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The United States said Friday it has granted access to its airspace so Venezuela’s president can make a weekend trip to China, countering assertions from Caracas that permission was denied.

On Thursday Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro bristled with outrage at the “serious offense” of denying his plane rights to U.S. airspace over the Atlantic.

The leftist leader — successor to the late anti-U.S. firebrand Hugo Chavez — also accused the U.S. of refusing visas to some of the members of his delegation to the U.N. General Assembly opening next week in New York.

But the United States said it had in fact granted fly-over rights.

“The U.S. has granted permission to Venezuelan authorities to enter U.S. airspace,” deputy State Department spokeswoman Marie Harf said in an email.

Harf said that although the request was not submitted properly, U.S. authorities worked with the Venezuelan embassy to resolve the issue.

“U.S. authorities made an extraordinary effort to work with relevant authorities to grant overflight approval in a matter of hours,” Harf said.

“As a result we were able to notify the Venezuelan authorities last night that permission was granted.”

Harf said the request for diplomatic clearance for the aircraft — which she said was not a state aircraft as required for such clearance — to enter the airspace with just a day’s notice.

“Diplomatic flight clearances are required to be made with three days advance notice,” she said.

“We advised Venezuela on the correct way to get the clearance and notified their authorities last night that permission was granted,” she said.

Photo Credit: AFP

Start your day with National Memo Newsletter

Know first.

The opinions that matter. Delivered to your inbox every morning

How A Stuttering President Confronts A Right-Wing Bully

Donald Trump mocks Joe Biden’s stutter,” the headlines blare, and I am confronted (again) with (more) proof that the presumptive Republican presidential nominee hates people like me.

Keep reading...Show less
Trump at Trump Tower

Former President Donald Trump at Trump Tower in Manhattan

NEW YORK, March 25 (Reuters) - Donald Trump faces a Monday deadline to post a bond to cover a $454 million civil fraud judgment or face the risk of New York state seizing some of his marquee properties.Trump, seeking to regain the presidency this year, must either pay the money out of his own pocket or post a bond while he appeals Justice Arthur Engoron's February 16 judgment against him for manipulating his net worth and his family real estate company's property values to dupe lenders and insurers.

Keep reading...Show less
{{ post.roar_specific_data.api_data.analytics }}