US warns of ‘military activity’ in Mexican airspace

On January 16, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) posted a series of warning messages about “potentially dangerous situations”, mentioning the risk of disruption of the global positioning system (GPS).

“We have issued NOTAMs for specific areas of Mexico, Central America, Panama, Bogota, Guayaquil and Mazatlan, and airspace in the eastern Pacific,” an FAA spokesman said.

These notices will be effective for 60 days.

The warning was issued in the context of increasing tensions between the administration of President Donald Trump and a number of countries in the region, after the US increased its military presence in the southern Caribbean and launched a campaign to arrest Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. Mr. Trump also mentioned the possibility of taking other military actions, including targeting Colombia.

President Trump last week accused “cartels of running Mexico” and hinted that the US could attack targets on the ground in the country to suppress.

After the US conducted a raid on Venezuela early on the morning of January 3, the FAA issued restrictions throughout the Caribbean, forcing many major airlines to cancel hundreds of flights.

A JetBlue airliner last month nearly collided with a US Air Force tanker about 65 km from Venezuelan airspace. The JetBlue flight crew said that the US military plane did not turn on its transponder and moved in front of the civilian plane during the incident.