7 Other People More Deserving Of Nobel Peace Prize Than Trump

@ididntknow In another life, 60 years ago, I was a USAF pilot, assigned for a spell in the Panama Canal Zone, and I routinely flew in and out of most Central and South American countries and cities, including Caracas and a few Venezuela military bases; El Libertador AB comes to mind. My memory of Venezuela is that it was then one of the most developed countries in South America, with pretty modern infrastructure. All the people there that I had interactions with were professional, friendly and accommodating.

What happened since then?

@Heartlander I’m really interested to hear of your experiences and conclusions, you certainly don’t hear any truth from the mainstream media,

@ididntknow

Air traffic handling in Venezuela was the same as one would find in the US and Europe, as were support services such as fueling and dispatcher interactions. As I recall, the dispatcher had even partially filled out our flight plan to conform to their standard departure routes, probably anticipating that transient aircraft aren't yet aware of local departure routes. Most airports of some degree of activity have or had something called SIDs, Standard Instrument Departures which were designed to keep arriving and departing aircraft away from each other as well as serve other needs, like noise control.

On one flight to El Libertador, as I recall, we were there to pick up relief rice and other supports for Haiti which a few days earlier had been hit by a hurricane. The loading was done with what would commonly be seen at cargo hubs, i,e. fork lifts, K-loaders. We were also met by the base commander and taken on a tour of the base and to his office where he shared a brief history of Venezuela. Along the tour we drove by Juan Peron's escape aircraft, guarded and left untouched following Peron's arrival. The base commander then invited us to lunch at the officer's dining hall where we had lunch with the commander and his staff before sharing salutes and departing.

Upon arrival in Haiti, at a remote air field, there was no air traffic control, just radio contact with airport staff to confirm that the runway was available. To unload the aircraft there were a dozen shirtless men who slung 100# sacks of rice over their shoulders and carried them onto a flatbed truck. By contrast, Haiti was an undeveloped country and Venezuela was a well developed country,

@Heartlander what an interesting life you’ve had, you’ve experienced what most don’t, in your opinion, are America just after stealing the oil from Venezuela, and the drug story overstated, it’s ok, if you have no opinion on the subject