US denies political factor in US-Venezuela air conflict
The aviation conflict between Venezuela and the United States was based on security, not politics, and it was on the right path to a satisfactory resolution, said U.S. ambassador William Brownfield on Tuesday.

Negotiations "between the aeronautical experts from the U.S. and Venezuela are going in the right direction for a satisfactory resolution for both governments and both nations," he said.

Brownfield complained that a minority, both in the U.S. and Venezuela, had sought to drag politics into the conflict which is mostly about technical matters, adding that the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA) was prepared to leave a group of technicians in the country as proof that it was willing to resolve the problem quickly.

The latest U.S.-Venezuelan air row erupted after Venezuela threatened to ban flights by U.S. airlines on its territory from this Thursday.

Venezuela's National Civil Aviation Institute (INAC) said the measure was taken in response to FAA's decision to continue restrictions Venezuela airlines' flights to the U.S. despite a 2004 International Civil Aviation Organization report saying that the nations had restructured and modernized its airlines and the process

The FAA banned commercial jets registered in Venezuela 10 years ago due to violations of safety procedures, forcing the country's airlines to charters aircraft and staff from approved airlines for U.S. flights.

Officials from the FAA and INAC began talks on Monday to resolve the dispute. INAC said it had not yet decided if it would carry out its threat to restrict flights by Continental Airlines, Delta Airlines and American Airlines.