Chavez scrambles F-16s to intercept US warplane
Saturday, January 9th, 2010
President Hugo Chavez said he ordered two F-16 jets to intercept a U.S. military plane that twice violated Venezuelan airspace on Friday in what he called the latest provocation in the South American nation’s skies.
Brandishing a photo of the plane, which he described as a P-3, Chavez said the overflight was the latest incursion in Venezuelan skies by the U.S. military from its bases on the Netherlands’ Caribbean islands and from neighboring Colombia.
« They are provoking us … these are warplanes, » he said.
There was no immediate response from the U.S. Defense Department or the White House.
Chavez said the F-16s escorted the U.S. plane away after two incursions lasting 15 and 19 minutes each.
The perceived threat of U.S. intervention has become a central element of Chavez’s political discourse and a rallying cry for his supporters.
Foes say Latin America’s loudest U.S. critic is hyping the idea of a foreign threat to distract Venezuelans from domestic problems such as economic recession, rampant crime and inadequate public services.
The socialist leader surprised the diplomatic world in December when he accused the Netherlands of abetting potential offensive action against his government by granting U.S. troops access to its islands close to Venezuela.
The Dutch government says the U.S. presence on Curacao and Aruba—where about 250 Air Force crew and ground staff are based—is only for counternarcotics and surveillance operations over Caribbean smuggling routes.
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