- A spokesman for the Chilean Foreign Ministry said that this decision puts nearly 800,000 Venezuelans living in the southern country in a vulnerable situation.
The Chilean government regretted this Wednesday, September 25, the decision of its Venezuelan counterpart to suspend flights between the two countries, in a new step in the diplomatic conflict that has been going on since the last presidential elections in the Caribbean nation.
“This is a unilateral decision that once again puts nearly 800,000 Venezuelans residing in our country in a vulnerable situation. It is an unjustified action that we regret,” said a spokesperson for the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a brief message.
A source from the Venezuelan Ministry of Transport informed EFE on Wednesday of the aforementioned suspension, recorded in a NOTAM (bulletin) issued by the National Institute of Civil Aeronautics (INAC), attached to that State portfolio.
“Commercial passenger transport operations to and from the Republic of Chile are suspended,” the document states, without explaining the reason.
Authorities have suspended these operations one day after Chilean President Gabriel Boric, in his speech before the United Nations General Assembly, called the Venezuelan government a “dictatorship,” accusing it of trying to “steal” the July 28 elections, in which Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE).
In this regard, Boric called for the recognition of “the victory” that the opposition – grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – claims its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained by a wide margin.
More loss of air connections
The suspension of flights with Chile is in addition to the “temporary” cessation of air operations with Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru, in force since July 31 by order of the Venezuelan Executive, in rejection of “the interference of right-wing governments” with respect to the presidential elections, the results of which are still unknown in detail.
The president of the Venezuelan Association of Airlines (ALAV), Marisela de Loaiza, recently told EFE that the suspension of flights with Panama, the Dominican Republic and Peru is a “political” measure with which the oil-producing country reduced its international connectivity by 54%.
Of the 181 international flights per week that existed before the measure, there were 83 left, that is, 98 fewer, which equates to some 15,000 weekly seats that are no longer available, according to the association.
With information from EFE
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2024-09-26 11:11:12
