The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has warned airlines about “military activity” in the airspace over Mexico and several Central American countries. The FAA released several notices on Friday highlighting “potentially hazardous situations” that could be related to satellite navigation system malfunctions. The warning applies for a period of 60 days.
The FAA has published advisories to pilots for precise flight zones over Mexico, Central America, Panama, Bogotá, Guayaquil and Mazatlan as well as the airspace of the Eastern Pacific, said a spokesman for the aviation authority. These warnings will apply immediately, he added. According to this, there are “potential risks for aircraft at any altitude, during cruise as well as in the landing and take-off phase”.
US President Donald Trump announced on January 8th that after attacks at sea, the US would also take action on land against drug cartels. “We’re going to start fighting the cartels on land. The cartels rule Mexico,” Trump said in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity. Since September, the United States has killed more than 100 people in attacks on suspected drug boats in the eastern Pacific and Caribbean.
At the beginning of January, Trump ordered a military operation in Venezuela to capture President Nicolás Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. Maduro is now in custody in New York, where he is to be tried for “drug terrorism”.