• The recent U.S. strikes near Venezuela’s La Guaira port have raised questions about logistics disruption, but according to Freightos Head of Research Judah Levine, the impact on air cargo will be minimal and contained within Venezuela.
• With low container volumes, limited airfreight exports, and no confirmed shutdowns at ports or airports, Levine sees little risk of ocean-to-air shifts or knock-on effects for regional hubs.
• Air cargo imports such as pharmaceuticals and tech may face slight pressure if delays occur, but overall, the logistics impact remains negligible at this stage.

Following recent U.S. military action in Caracas and reports of strikes near La Guaira Port – Venezuela’s second-largest container terminal – concern emerged over potential supply chain disruptions across the region. However, early assessments suggest the ripple effects will remain confined to Venezuela’s borders, with minimal implications for air cargo or broader logistics networks.

Judah Levine, Head of Research at Freightos, noted that Venezuela’s logistics profile — both in ocean and airfreight — is relatively small in global terms.

“Container-wise, it’s quite a small market — handling capacity is a little more than a million TEUs per year, which is quite small,” he said. “Most exports are bulk — mostly oil, agricultural commodities, metals. Container trade is not very big to begin with.”

Levine added that air cargo plays an even smaller role: “I don’t think that there are many air cargo exports. There’s probably more air cargo imports — things like pharmaceuticals, tech devices, phones and computers.”

Despite the geopolitical tension, Levine does not anticipate a modal shift from ocean to air. “Even if there were a significant ocean-to-air shift, I don’t think it would have broader impacts,” he said. “The impacts are probably much more felt in the Venezuelan market itself.”

Levine explained that Caracas airport appears fully operational: “From what I can tell — in terms of different flight trackers and things like that — it seems like there are aircraft landing and taking off in Caracas, which handles the big majority of air cargo traffic for Venezuela.”

Even in the event of temporary disruptions, Levine said the market size is unlikely to drive demand shifts in other regional hubs.

“It doesn’t seem like it’s an important enough player, even in the region, for those types of things to result from what we’re seeing so far.”

Types of cargo at risk?

Asked which goods might shift to airfreight if needed, Levine pointed to a narrow set of import categories: “Anything that becomes low enough inventory that an importer thinks it’s worth the extra cost — as an example pharmaceuticals or tech — but again, it doesn’t seem like this is an event that is shutting down ports or the airport for a very long time.”

As for air exports, Levine noted: “I can’t think of major things that are exported from Venezuela that would be a factor. Could some seafood shipped fresh instead of frozen – but not much that normally goes by air.” As of now, Freightos has not seen any rate changes or capacity stress tied to the event, but Levine said they are keeping watch.

“So far, no — it doesn’t seem like it’s been terribly disruptive to logistics. I haven’t seen rate data yet, but we’ll continue to monitor.”

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