Colombia's Transport Minister Maria Fernanda Rojas on Friday said that flights between her country and Venezuela's capital city Caracas are being targeted by cyber attacks, forcing some Colombian carriers to temporarily suspend services to Venezuela.
"Deceptive signals are being emitted, cyber attacks are taking place, signals are being sent that are intended to deceive GPS positioning equipment," Rojas said in a post to social media platform X on the U.S. attempt to close the Venezuelan airspace, warning that "this has crossed all boundaries."
She called for statements from the International Civil Aviation Organization and other international bodies, declaring that technological sabotage of any civil aviation operation anywhere in the world constitutes a crime.
"We cannot allow this [to happen]. The international community cannot allow this today. Today it is Venezuela, tomorrow it could be Colombia or any other country in the world," the minister added.
Rojas said that flight operations between Colombia and Venezuela will continue.
The Civil Aviation Authority of Colombia said it had held meetings with the Colombian foreign ministry and the affected domestic airline companies to solve the issue as soon as possible.
On Wednesday and Thursday, multiple airline companies such as Panama's Copa Airlines, the Bolivian Aviation, and Colombia's low-budget Wingo all announced suspension of Caracas-bounded flights due to pilot reports on GPS signal disruptions.
The flight irregularities followed U.S. President Donald Trump's announcement a week ago, in which he threatened to close the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela "in its entirety," as his administration continued to ramp up pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro's government. Trump's threat has been met with strong condemnation from Venezuela and other countries in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Colombia says Caracas-bound flights threatened by cyber attacks
Colombia says Caracas-bound flights threatened by cyber attacks
