This Tuesday, a photo circulated on social networks showing a screen at the Maiquetía International Airport welcoming a delegation from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), the US federal agency in charge of transportation security. The image confirmed that TSA officials were in Caracas carrying out inspections at the country’s main air terminal.
As explained by aeronautical lawyer Rodolfo Ruíz, the delegation is in Maiquetía verifying compliance with Annex 17 of the Chicago Convention, which establishes the standards and recommended practices regarding airport security.
In interview with Success CircuitRuíz recalled that the TSA was born in 2001 as a direct response to the September 11 attacks and that, since 2003, it has been part of the United States Department of Homeland Security. Its central mandate is to prevent civil aircraft from being used as weapons, which makes it a determining actor in authorizing or blocking international air operations.
“The fact that they are here means that the process for the resumption of commercial flights between the United States and Venezuela is underway,” he stated.
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has the last word
The visit is crucial because the TSA is the authority that decides whether a foreign airport meets the standards necessary for U.S. airlines — or foreign airlines flying to the U.S. — to operate direct routes. The evaluation is carried out under the Foreign Airports Assessment Program, a program that establishes guidelines and technical criteria for these inspections.
Ruíz sums it up like this: “They are the ones who will have the last word on whether this operation is going to happen.” The decision will affect both US and Venezuelan airlines that aspire to resume flights to cities such as Miami, Houston or New York.
What’s coming now?
Everything will depend on the result of the audit. If the TSA concludes that Maiquetía meets the required security standards, the way will be clear for the aeronautical authorities of both countries to authorize the resumption of direct flights, suspended since 2019.
“Depending on how this evaluation comes out, we will have direct flights between the United States and Venezuela,” said Ruíz.
The visit, therefore, is not a diplomatic gesture or a routine procedure: it is the essential technical step so that airlines can once again connect both countries without stopovers. And, for the first time in years, the presence of the TSA in Caracas—and the public welcome at the airport—indicates that this scenario is beginning to look possible.
