Chavez: Venezuela Sent F-16 Jets To
Intercept U.S. Military Plane
CARACAS - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez
said Friday that he had ordered F-16 jets to
intercept a U.S. military plane that twice
violated Venezuelan airspace earlier in the
day.
Speaking at a cabinet meeting, Chavez said
that the U.S. plane, based on the
Netherlands' Curacao island in the
Caribbean, intruded into Venezuelan airspace
twice, the first for 15 minutes and the
second 19 minutes.
The F-16s escorted the U.S. plane out, he
added.
However, the U.S. military denied that any
of its planes entered Venezuelan airspace on
Friday.
"As a matter of policy we do not fly over a
nation's air space without prior consent and
coordination," the U.S. Southern Command,
which is in charge of U.S. military
activities in the hemisphere, said in a
statement. "We operate with the utmost
respect for the sovereignty of the nations
in our hemisphere.
Last month, Chavez accused the United States
of flying an unmanned spy plane into
Venezuela's airspace and vowed to shoot down
any similar aircraft in the future.
Venezuela suspended diplomatic ties with
Colombia in July in response to a
U.S.-Colombian military base deal, saying it
would pave the way for the United States to
invade Venezuela. Both Washington and Bogota
denied the allegation. |
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