Curacao Aviation Authority rejected Machado flight “at request from higher up”

WILLEMSTAD — According to media outlet Curaçao.nu, Curaçao’s aviation authority, the CCAA, refused landing authorization last week for the private aircraft Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado intended to use to travel from Panama to Curaçao. CCAA Director-General Peter Steinmetz confirmed that the application for aircraft HP-4DMB was denied “based on a request from higher up.” It remains unclear who made that request.

Curaçao.nu had previously reported, citing news agency EFE, that Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire had not granted landing permission for a flight Machado hoped to use as part of an attempted return to Venezuela. Machado’s team confirmed that the aircraft ultimately did not depart Panama.

After further questioning by Curaçao.nu, Steinmetz directly confirmed that the CCAA had received an application for landing authorization and that it was rejected. Curaçao Traffic Minister Charles Cooper said the request did not come from him. Prime Minister Gilmar Pisas declined to say who was behind the instruction.

The case leaves open whether the decision originated in Curaçao itself or at Kingdom level. Foreign relations are a Kingdom responsibility, while Curaçao and Aruba are responsible for their own civil aviation and landing permissions.

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten also did not rule out a Dutch role. Asked explicitly whether the Netherlands had made Machado’s travel through Aruba or Curaçao more difficult, he declined to give further details, referring to cooperation with the Venezuelan opposition and the safety of opposition members. The Dutch Foreign Ministry likewise did not provide a substantive explanation.

According to the report, Sidney Kock, spokesperson for Aruba’s Cabinet in The Hague, said that although Aruba is responsible for its own aviation, the involvement of a political figure such as Machado also raises foreign-relations issues, over which the islands do not act entirely independently.