VENEZUELA: NO RESPONSE ON VIOLATION OF U.S.

UNCLAS CARACAS 000796 SIPDIS STATE FOR EEB/TRA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ECON PGOV PREL ETRD EINV EAIR VE SUBJECT: VENEZUELA: NO RESPONSE ON VIOLATION OF U.S. AVIATION REGULATIONS ¶1. (SBU) The Venezuelan government has not responded to the March 19 EEB/TRA/OTP Memorandum on FAA Case Number 2008EA250055, the "Violation of Federal Aviation Regulations." The FAA documents detail the case against a pilot for Venezuelan government-owned petroleum company PDVSA. The violations included operating an aircraft in the United States "in a careless or reckless manner so as to endanger the life or property of another." ¶2. (SBU) Post transmitted the FAA documentation to Venezuelan Civil Aviation Authority INAC on April 28. Prior to the response deadline of June 19, Post contacted INAC to inquire about the status of the case. INAC initially denied receipt of the package. After multiple follow up calls, on June 22 INAC acknowledged that it had in fact received the package on April 28, but told Econoff there was no response as of yet from INAC President Jose Martinez. As instructed in the memorandum, Post will give INAC an additional 90 days (until September 19, 2009) to respond. CAULFIELD