[News] US Combat Plane in Curaçao Violated Venezuelan Airspace Yesterday
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Mon Jan 11 11:39:54 EST 2010
US Combat Plane Stationed at the Military Base in
Curaçao Violated Venezuelan Airspace Yesterday
January 10th 2010, by Eva Golinger- Postcards from the Revolution
Caracas, January 9, 2009 - Yesterdays violation
of Venezuelan airspace by a P-3 US military
combat plane is another example of the escalation
in provocations against Venezuela and evidence of
the danger US military presence in the region
represents. During a live television broadcast on
the evening of January 8, President Hugo Chávez
revealed that at approximately 12:55pm earlier
that day, a US P3 combat plane took off from the
air base in neighboring Curaçao and entered
Venezuelan airspace during a 15-minute period.
Two Venezuelan F-16 planes intercepted the
foreign military aircraft, prepared to escort it
outside Venezuelan territory. When the F-16
planes attempted communication with the US
aircraft, it immediately took off towards the
north, but later it returned, announced
President Chávez. He said that at 1:37pm
Venezuelan time, the combat plane returned and
flew for about 19 minutes inside Venezuelan
territory. It was escorted out and pressured by
our F-16s, we didnt have to bring in the Sukhois, added Chávez.
The Pentagon has denied violation of Venezuelan
airspace, yet the Venezuelan military has video
and photographic images of the US combat plane incursion yesterday.
Just days earlier, Venezuelas Vice-President
Ramón Carrizalez had publicly denounced the
intromission of a US military plane also
originating from the air base in Curaçao during
2009. The governments of Washington and Holland
denied the violation, yet Carrizalez revealed an
audio recording between the Venezuelan airport
control tower and the US pilot while inside
Venezuelan airspace. The pilot stated clearly
that he was flying a US Navy military plane
stationed at the base in Curaçao. He claimed
ignorance as to the violation of Venezuelan
territory, stating he was unaware he had
entered an unauthorized zone. But the US military
plane hadnt just merely crossed a border that
some might argue is difficult to visualize,
rather the pilot had flown over a strategic
Venezuelan military base on La Orchila, a small
island off Venezuelas northern coast, clearly
well inside Venezuelan territory. This was not an isolated incident.
Since 2008, Washington has been increasing its
military and intelligence presence on the small
Dutch island of Curaçao, where it maintains a
Forward Operating Location (FOL) since 1999. The
original contract between Holland and Washington
stipulated use of Curaçao for counter-narcotics
operations. But since September 11, 2001,
Washington began using its military installations
around the world to combat terrorist threats
and threats against US interests, and in some
cases, such as in Curaçao and Aruba, violating
the terms of previous military agreements that
only authorized counter-narcotics or humanitarian missions.
By 2006, US operations from Curaçao were not just
US Air Force counter-narcotics missions, but a
clear presence of US Navy, Marines, Army, Special
Forces and CIA had taken over the tiny Caribbean
island. Together, the US military and
intelligence community components were conducting
joint exercises and operations to combat a
potencial threat in the region. At the same
time, the Bush Administration was trying to brand
Venezuela as a state sponsor of terrorism,
despite the lack of any evidence to back such a dangerous accusation.
The arrival of US aircraft carriers, war ships,
combat planes, Black Hawk helicopters, nuclear
submarines, and thousands of troops to the waters
of Curaçao to participate in joint exercises
caused alarm in the region. The Commander of the
U.S.S. Stout, one of the war ships that docked in
Willemstad during Spring 2006, declared to the
Curaçao press on April 11, 2006,
we are the
most powerful Naval force in the world and the
United States will defend its friends in the
region under all circumstances. Commander Thomas
K. Kiss also exclaimed that his powerful ship
represented
a formidable presence to defend US interests in the region.
That was in 2006. In 2008, the stakes
intensified. Washington formally attempted to
place Venezuela on the terrorism list, though
Congress didnt approve the request because of
oil dependence. But in July 2008, the US Naval
Fourth Fleet was reactivated after almost 60
years, to demonstrate US power and force in the
region. In 2009, a military agreement between
Colombia and Washington was sealed, allowing the
Pentagon to occupy and use seven military bases
in Colombian territory and any civilian
installation necessary. US Air Force documents
justifying the agreement and budget requests to
improve Colombian military installations
underlined the necessity to combat
the constant
threat of
anti-US governments in the region and
to engage in Intelligence, Surveillance and
Reconnaisance missions, as well as to improve the
US armed forces capacity to execute Expeditionary Warfare in the region.
In December 2009, President Chávez denounced the
detection of a US drone plane that had violated
Venezuelan territory from Colombia.
A Department of State publication from 2006
classified the Dutch islands of Aruba, Bonaire
and Curaçao as the The Third Frontier of the
United States, considering the Caribbean
colonies part of the geopolitical border of the
United States. In reaction to the growing US
military presence on Curaçao, a local journalist
commented, upon visiting one of the US war ships,
After leaving the war ship, we had the sensation
that all of a sudden, we are now very important
----------
Source URL (retrieved on Jan 11 2010 - 12:38):
<http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5061>http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/5061
License: Published under a Creative Commons
license (by-nc-nd). See creativecommons.org for more information.
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