US Blames Venezuela for Banning Airlines US Warned Off
Venezuela has banned six international airlines, accusing them of 'state terrorism' after they suspended flights following a warning from the US Federal Aviation Administration. The Guardian presents this as an escalation, carefully omitting the US's decades-long pattern of weaponizing economic policy to destabilize governments it dislikes. This isn't 'state terrorism'; it's Caracas reacting to
Washington's well-documented playbook of sanctions and pressure, which in 2019 led the Treasury Department to threaten sanctions against airlines flying to Venezuela. One might wonder if 'escalation' only applies when the target fights back. For Venezuela, 'state terrorism' appears to be the only available term for a foreign power dictating who can fly into your sovereign airspace. What's next,
banning countries for not buying US-approved toilet paper? How many times can the US cripple an economy before its victims call it what it is?