Air France halts Caracas flights during political crisis

Air France has said it is suspending some flights to Caracas until Monday at least as the political crisis gripping the South American country deepens with a standoff over foreign aid.

An airline spokeswoman told AFP late Wednesday that “certain flights had been halted over security concerns,” including direct flights between Paris and Caracas.

An AFP journalist who was supposed to fly to Venezuela on Friday was notified by the company that her flight had been cancelled.

Air France’s website, however, was on Thursday still offering flights to Caracas via Panama.

It had already suspended flights in July 2017 when President Nicolas Maduro created a Constituent Assembly to supplant the opposition-controlled parliament after a contested presidential vote.

The political standoff has flared recently as opposition leader Juan Guaido has declared himself president and stepped up his efforts to oust Maduro after years of economic hardship that has prompted hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans to flee the country.

Guaido has set a Saturday deadline for the government to allow the entry of tons of US food and medicine now blocked in Colombia, raising fears of a clash with the military.

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