CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Blame it on the World Cup. That’s what Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is doing to explain why airlines are slashing flights to the crisis-plagued South American nation.

Alitalia and Panama’s Copa Airlines this month became the latest carriers to cut flights to Caracas over the socialist government’s refusal to allow them to repatriate proceeds from ticket sales inside Venezuela. Foreign airlines say they have the equivalent of $4 billion trapped in the country when sales are converted at the official exchange rate of 6.3 bolivars per U.S. dollar.