American Airlines announced today that it is suspending flights to Venezuela effective immediately, severing one of the last remaining links that Venezuelans had to the rest of the world.
The airline–which flew two weekly flights to Venezuela from Miami–cited security concerns as the main reason for its decision.
The announcement from the airline came just hours after the union representing American Airlines’ pilots issued a statement calling on its members to refuse assignments to Venezuela. The Allied Pilots Association told its members late Thursday night:
Until further notice, if you are scheduled, assigned, or reassigned a pairing into Venezuela, refuse the assignment
The union represents approximately 15,000 American Airlines Pilots, also had the support of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, which represents 25,000 of the airline’s flight attendants.
American Airlines’ departure from Venezuela means that there are now eight international carriers operating in the country. They are:
- Air Europa
- Air France
- Copa Airlines
- Iberi
- Wingo
- Plus Ultra
- Turkish Airlines
- TAP
Polish Journalist Claims He Was Beaten by Police
Tomasz Surdel, a Polish journalist working for a newspaper called Gazeta Wyborcza, denounced today that he was severely beaten by Venezuelan authorities.
Surdel claims that he was detained at a police checkpoint in the Bello Monte neighbourhood of Caracas at approximately 10:30 PM last night. There, officers with the National Bolivarian Police’s Fuerzas de Acciones Especiales (Special Actions Force, FAES) beat him and threatened to kill him.
I saw the barrel of a gun in front of my eyes (…) [an officer], laughing, pulled the trigger. The weapon was not loaded.
The journalist claims that the officers were wearing ski masks, and that after beating him they got into an SUV and left him.
Below, an image of Surdel after the beating shared by the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de Prensa (National Press Worker’s Union):
Meganalisis Poll: Nearly 9/10 Want Maduro Out Now
A new poll by the Meganalisis firm shows that 88.9% of respondents want both Maduro and chavismo out of power “now”, while only 8.8% would prefer them to stay.
A staggering 87.5% of respondents said that they would support the National Assembly in invoking Article 187(11) of the Constitution, which gives the legislature the power to approve a foreign military intervention in the country.
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