(Caracas, Venezuela) A U.S. Navy S-3B Viking aircraft strayed into Venezuelan airspace over the weekend, prompting a strong denunciation by Hugo Chavez's government. According to State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, the breach of airspace was inadvertent.
"While conducting a counternarcotics mission in international airspace, the pilot realized that a navigation error had occurred," Mr. McCormack said.
"He contacted a Venezuelan tower to report the error, stating that he would immediately return to international airspace. The exchange was polite and professional."
Not so, said Venezuelan Defense Minister Gustavo Rangel. It was deliberate and another link in a chain of provocations toward Venezuela, said Rangel. Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro has summoned U.S. Ambassador Patrick Duddy to provide an explanation.
The S-3B Viking incident occurred around the Venezuelan island of La Orchila and another island about 80 miles off the coast. The island of La Orchila has a military base and Hugo Chavez's presidential retreat.
The breach of airspace also occurred concurrent with an alleged incursion of Colombian troops about 500 yards into Venezuela on Friday. Both occurrences play into Hugo Chavez's accusations that the U.S. and Colombia are colluding to invade Venezuela.
Interestingly, Defense Minister Rangel remarked that violations of Venezuelan airspace likely happened before but nobody knew because they didn't have the equipment to detect violations. Now they do.
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