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00:00FAA issues urgent warning for pilots as tensions escalate around Venezuela.
00:06The Federal Aviation Administration is urging pilots to use extreme caution when flying in or near Venezuelan airspace,
00:13citing a rapidly deteriorating security environment and increased military activity around the country.
00:19According to the Associated Press, in a notice published Friday,
00:23the FAA said the situation in Venezuela presents
00:26a potential risk to aircraft at all altitudes, including planes taking off, landing, or even parked on the ground.
00:33The agency did not specify the exact nature of the threats,
00:36but made clear that pilots should be alert to heightened danger.
00:40The warning comes at a time of intensifying pressure from the Trump administration on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
00:46The United States does not recognize Maduro as the country's legitimate leader
00:51and has repeatedly sought to isolate him on the world stage.
00:54He also faces narco-terrorism charges in the U.S.
00:58In recent months, the U.S. military has flown bomber aircraft close to Venezuela's coast,
01:03including in training exercises that simulate potential strikes.
01:07The Pentagon has also deployed the USS Gerald R. Ford and several destroyers,
01:11creating what officials call the largest American military presence in the Caribbean in a generation.
01:16At the same time, the administration has launched a broad campaign
01:20against small boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific, accused of smuggling drugs into the U.S.,
01:25resulting in more than 80 deaths since operations began in early September.
01:30Mary Schiavo, a former inspector general for the Department of Transportation,
01:35said such FAA notices are not unusual in zones of active or potential conflict.
01:40I wouldn't take it as necessarily there's any kind of attack is imminent because I've seen these issued many times before,
01:48Schiavo said, but as a pilot myself, I'd certainly heed it.
01:52Schiavo noted the warning could signal that the U.S. is preparing for possible Venezuelan military action
01:58or planning additional operations of its own targeting drug trafficking vessels.
02:02It's hard to read into this notice and know what is behind it, she added.
02:07The Pentagon referred all questions about the warning to the FAA,
02:10which confirmed the notice and said it will remain in effect for 90 days.
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