DST News: Venezuela has sharply criticized US President Donald Trump after he declared that the airspace over and around the South American nation should be treated as closed, a statement Caracas described as a “colonialist threat.”
In a strongly worded response, Venezuela’s foreign ministry denounced Trump’s remarks as “yet another extravagant, illegal and baseless act of aggression against the Venezuelan people.” Legal experts note that the United States has no authority to shut down another country’s airspace, but such warnings could create uncertainty for airlines and potentially discourage flights in the region.
The comments come at a time of rising tensions, as Washington increases its military presence in the Caribbean, officially to curb drug trafficking. President Nicolás Maduro has dismissed those justifications, accusing the US of using narcotics allegations as a pretext to destabilize his government.
Trump issued his warning on Truth Social, writing: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider the AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” The White House has not responded to requests for clarification.
Trump’s remarks have drawn criticism from both major US political parties, with lawmakers arguing that he has bypassed congressional authority.
“President Trump’s reckless approach toward Venezuela is pushing us closer to another disastrous foreign conflict,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer posted on X, stressing that only Congress can approve military action. Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed the point, reminding followers that war powers rest solely with the legislature.
The warning follows a bulletin from the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), which recently alerted airlines to “heightened military activity” around Venezuela.
Caracas says Washington has also suspended weekly migrant repatriation flights without consultation. Its foreign ministry urged the United Nations, world governments and international organizations to denounce what it called an “immoral act of aggression.”
In a show of force, Venezuela’s armed forces carried out coastal military exercises on Saturday, with state television broadcasting images of anti-aircraft systems and heavy artillery in action.
The tensions come after Venezuela banned six major international carriers — Iberia, TAP Portugal, Gol, Latam, Avianca and Turkish Airlines — for failing to resume flights within a 48-hour ultimatum issued earlier this week.
The United States has positioned the USS Gerald R. Ford — the world’s largest aircraft carrier — along with roughly 15,000 troops near Venezuelan waters. Washington insists the deployment, the largest in the region since the 1989 invasion of Panama, is part of an anti-drug trafficking mission.
Trump has vowed that operations targeting alleged Venezuelan drug routes “by land” will begin “very soon.” US forces say they have already conducted at least 21 strikes on vessels suspected of transporting narcotics, resulting in more than 80 deaths — though no public evidence has been provided to confirm the boats were carrying drugs.
Caracas maintains that the US military buildup and drug claims are aimed at removing Maduro, whose re-election last year was rejected by the Venezuelan opposition and several Western governments as fraudulent.
Washington recently labeled the Cartel de los Soles — a group it says is led by Maduro and embedded within Venezuela’s security forces — as a foreign terrorist organization. The designation expands the tools available to US agencies for targeting the group. Venezuela has “categorically” rejected the label, calling it politically motivated. Diosdado Cabello, the country’s interior and justice minister and one of the alleged cartel leaders, has long insisted that the organization is a fabrication.
The US State Department, however, maintains that the cartel exists and has deeply infiltrated Venezuela’s military, intelligence and judicial institutions.
Source: BBC
