By David Shepardson
Jan 16 (Reuters) – The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines on Friday to exercise caution when flying over Mexico, Central America and parts of South America, citing the risks of potential military activities and GPS interference.
The FAA said it had issued Notices to Airmen covering Mexico and Central American countries, as well as Ecuador, Colombia and portions of airspace within the eastern Pacific Ocean. The warnings began on Friday and will last 60 days, it said.
Tensions between the U.S. and regional leaders have ramped up since the Trump administration mounted a large-scale military buildup in the southern Caribbean, attacked Venezuela and seized the country’s president, Nicolas Maduro, in a military operation. President Donald Trump has raised the possibility of other military actions in the area, including against Colombia.
Trump said last week that drug cartels were running Mexico and suggested the U.S. could strike land targets to combat them, in one of a series of threats to deploy U.S. military force against cartels.
Mexico responded to the FAA’s advisory, saying it is only a precaution and does not restrict Mexican airspace or airlines. The notice applies solely to U.S. operators, and aviation operations in Mexico remain unaffected, the ministry said in a statement.
After the attack on Venezuela, the FAA curbed flights throughout the Caribbean, forcing the cancellation of hundreds of flights by major airlines. FAA Administrator Bryan Bedford told Reuters this week there had been good coordination between the agency and U.S. military before the Venezuela operation.
Last month, a JetBlue passenger jet bound for New York took evasive action to avoid a mid-air collision with a U.S. Air Force tanker plane near Venezuela. JetBlue Flight 1112 had departed the Caribbean nation of Curacao and was flying about 40 miles (60 km) off the coast of Venezuela when the Airbus plane reported encountering the Air Force jet, which did not have its transponder activated.
(Reporting by David Shepardson in Toledo, Ohio; Additional reporting by Kylie Madry; Editing by Chris Reese and Aurora Ellis)
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