Nicolás Maduro Regime Defends Chinese Spy Balloon, Claims Venezuela Full of U.S. ‘Spy Planes’

Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela's president, speaks during a press conference at Miraflores
Matias Delacroix/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Christian K. Caruzo

CARACAS – Venezuela’s authoritarian socialist regime released an official statement on Sunday condemning the United States for shooting down a Chinese balloon suspected of conducting surveillance that flew across America this weekend.

Dictator Nicolás Maduro’s regime, which is heavily indebted to communist China, claimed the balloon “did not represent any threat” to the United States.

In its statement, the Maduro regime echoed the Chinese government line that the balloon was “of a civilian nature” and that it had landed in American airspace as a result of “technical failure.”

“The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela rejects the attack by the United States against an unmanned aircraft of Chinese origin of civilian nature that had shown a technical failure and did not represent any military or physical threat against people on the ground,” the statement read.

The Maduro regime’s description of the alleged Chinese spy balloon match statements issued by Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning, who said on Monday that Latin American countries “understand” that the balloons “do not represent any threat” after the Pentagon reported on Friday that another Chinese balloon had been detected flying over that region.

Mao also claimed that the balloon had been deployed “for flight tests for civilian purposes” and “was affected by weather conditions, in addition to its limited maneuverability, which resulted in its unintentional entry into the airspace of Latin American countries.”

The Maduro regime continued its statement by reproaching that, “once again, the United States resorts to the use of force, instead of dealing with this situation with the seriousness and responsibility that the case deserves.”

Lastly, the socialist regime concluded its official statement by claiming that it is “committed to the values of the Charter of the United Nations and the Diplomacy of Peace,” while “ratifying” its “strict adherence to dialogue for the peaceful resolution of conflicts and the healthy coexistence among nations and peoples.”

Shortly after the Maduro regime condemned the shooting down of the suspected Chinese spy balloon, Domingo Hernández Lárez, chief of the Maduro regime’s Strategic Operational Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Force, claimed via his Twitter account that “spy planes” allegedly belonging to the United States have allegedly been detected in Venezuelan airspace on “no less than four occasions” in the last 30 days.

“In no less than 4 occasions in the last 30 days, the Flight Information Region has been violated by U.S. spy planes, disrespecting international conventions,” Hernández Lárez wrote. “Cynicism is really not enough!”

Venezuela’s defense minister, Vladimir Padrino López, described the shooting down of the Chinese balloon as “cynicism” as well, as, according to him, Venezuela has been “systematically provoked” and its territorial sovereignty “violated” by the United States.

“The U.S. talking about respect for its airspace? Venezuela has witnessed the systematic provocation and violation of our sovereignty by U.S. air and maritime means, forcing us to intercept and expel them,” Padrino López claimed on Sunday.

Padrino López is among several high-ranking members of the Maduro regime charged by the U.S. Department of Justice with narco-terrorism, corruption, drug trafficking, and other crimes. The U.S. indictment alleged that Padrino López conspired with others to distribute cocaine on board an aircraft registered in the United States from March 2014 until May 2019.

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