Two European airlines stop over in Caracas overnight, fearing escalating violence in Venezuela

The Spanish airline Iberia and the Portuguese company TAP decided not spend the night in Caracas to preserve the physical integrity of their crews in the wave of violence that rages in Venezuela, a country plunged into a political crisis after the appointment of Juan Guaidó as acting president, in defiance of the chavista regime of Nicolás Maduro, announced Monday the agency. Bloomberg.

Iberia was the first to announce its decision last week, and already calls in Santo Domingo, Republic Dominican, in its three weekly flights between Caracas and Madrid.

TAP confirmed Monday to have made the same decision, in his case calling on the Dutch island of Curacao, as well as in the Caribbean, in its two weekly flights between Caracas and Lisbon. The course is covered by its partner EuroAtlantic.

"It involves additional cost, but the safety of our crews is a priority", said TAP at Bloomberg by email.

Venezuela, plunged for years into a socio-economic crisis characterized by a sharp drop in GDP, hyperinflation and increased poverty, It has one of the highest homicide rates in the world, more than 80 per 100,000 population. And Caracas, in particular, has become a dangerous city.

At the same time, Political violence is on the rise and at least 35 people have died in protests for Guaidó who were repressed by Chavez's forces.

In this context, the US State Department ordered January 25 the withdrawal of non-essential personnel in their diplomatic delegations and maintains a recommendation not to visit the country of South America.

In addition to Iberia and TAP, the other major airline that continues to cover flights between Europe and Venezuela is Air France / KLM and, for the moment, they have not reported any change in their routes.

The pilots of the smaller Air Europa airlines, however, have already asked not to spend the night in Caracas.

The number of airlines serving Venezuela has decreased in recent years, especially after the arrival of Maduro in 2014 and the rapid deterioration of the situation that followed.

Air Canada, Aeromexico, Alitalia, Lan (Chile), Tam (Brazil), Tiara (Aruba) and Gol (Brazil) left the country between 2014 and 2015 for the loss of profitability, inability to repatriate profits and increased violence, as he remembered the magazine Management.

In 2016, the American company Dynamic and the German company Lufthansa followed this path. In 2017, it was United Airlines and Delta, United States, and Colombian Avianca.