Venezuela Says U.S. Violated Airspace as Provocation

19 May 20008

By Daniel Cancel and Matthew Walter

Venezuela's defense minister accused the U.S. of seeking to provoke sharper tensions between his country and U.S. ally Colombia by flying into Venezuelan airspace last weekend.

The plane, which the U.S. said strayed into Venezuelan jurisdiction because of a navigation failure, was detected over Venezuela's Orchila island, about 180 kilometers (119 miles) north of Caracas, at 8:40 p.m. (9:10 p.m. New York time), Defense Minister Gustavo Rangel Briceno told reporters today in Caracas. The pilot said he mistook his location, Briceno said.

``We think this was a conscious act on the part of the North American navy, and is another knot in the chain of aggressions in which they seek to involve our country,'' Briceno said. ``It's possible this sort of incident happened in the past, but now we have the capacity to detect them.''

Venezuela, the fourth-biggest supplier of foreign crude oil to the U.S., has accused President George W. Bush of trying to stoke a conflict between Venezuela and neighboring Colombia to justify a U.S. intervention. Venezuela asked U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to provide an explanation for the unauthorized incursion, the defense minister said.

`Situational Awareness'

The plane, identified as a Navy S-3 aircraft, flew into Venezuelan airspace off the mainland coast after losing ``navigational situational awareness,'' according to a statement issued today by the U.S. Southern Command's Joint Interagency Task Force, which conducts the counter-narcotics missions.

A U.S. Defense Department spokesman, Navy Commander J.D. Gordon, said an S-3 experienced navigation problems while on a mission from Curacao on May 17. Gordon said the plane's crew was contacted by Venezuela's Maiquetia air traffic control center and a ``polite and professional'' conversation ensued, lasting about three minutes. The Task Force statement said the Venezuelans helped guide the plane back to international airspace.

Both the Pentagon and Southern Command said the incident is being investigated.

Venezuelan General Jesus Gonzalez Gonzalez told reporters today in Caracas he found it hard to believe the incident was accidental given the distance between Curacao and Orchila Island.

`Delicate'

Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro also said today during a news conference that his government is seeking a diplomatic resolution to conflicts with neighboring Colombia, which he said is working with the U.S. to destabilize Chavez's government.

Maduro said he spoke with Colombian Foreign Minister Fernando Araujo today, and they agreed to form a commission to determine what happened in an incident involving Colombian troops on the border between the two countries on May 16.

Maduro said 60 Colombian soldiers crossed into Venezuela, which Colombia has denied.

``We're going to use diplomatic mechanisms as the way to clarify what happened,'' Maduro told reporters today in Caracas. ``The climate between the two countries is delicate right now.''

Diplomacy between Venezuela and Colombia has been strained this year since Colombian President Alvaro Uribe accused Chavez of supporting Colombia's biggest guerrilla group.

Uribe's military raid on a guerrilla camp in Ecuador, a Chavez ally, also prompted the Venezuelan president to order troops to the Colombia border in March.

Fact Finding

Chavez said last week he'd put all economic and diplomatic relations with Colombia under ``deep review.'' Trade between the two countries rose to more than $5 billion last year.

Uribe says files recovered from laptop computers belonging to a slain leader of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia show that Chavez was giving the rebels financing and weapons.

Colombia's Araujo confirmed today that he spoke with Maduro and agreed to participate in the commission to determine what happened on the border between the two countries in Venezuela's Apure state.

The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry sent a complaint to Colombia on May 17, and said the 60 troops were found 800 meters (0.5 mile) into Venezuelan territory.