President Donald Trump said in a short social media post on Nov. 29 that the airspace around the South American country should be considered closed.
President Trump suggests Venezuela’s airspace is ‘closed’ as airstrikes intensify
President Trump has issued a warning to avoid Venezuelan airspace as his administration steps up attacks on drug lords.
The United States appears to be inching closer to a direct attack on Venezuela.
President Donald Trump issued a warning on Nov. 29 to avoid airspace around the South American country. President Trump has already hinted at an imminent ground attack on Venezuela, a country larger than the state of Texas and with a population of more than 31 million people.
The Trump administration has stepped up its threats against Venezuela and its leader Nicolas Maduro, accusing the regime of drug trafficking and terrorism. The U.S. military has launched several attacks on vessels that authorities accuse of drug smuggling in Venezuelan waters, often without evidence, and dozens of people have been killed.
After months of provocations, the regime may now be poised to overthrow Maduro.
President Trump warns of closing airspace around Venezuela
In a short social media post, President Trump warned that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered closed. Although the U.S. president does not have the authority to control Venezuelan airspace, several major international airlines have suspended operations following advance warning from the Federal Aviation Administration of “increased military activity” in or around Venezuela.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers, and human traffickers, please consider completely closing the airspace over and around Venezuela,” Trump said on his app Truth Social and his rarely used X account. “Thank you for your consideration in this matter!”
In a statement Saturday afternoon, the Venezuelan government condemned President Trump’s comments, calling them a “colonialist threat” to South American sovereignty and contrary to international law.
The statement said Trump’s posts “represent a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act that violates the principles of international law.”
The United States already has its largest aircraft carrier, two guided missile destroyers, and a special operations ship near Venezuela. Approximately 12,000 troops are stationed in the area.
President Trump told military officials earlier this week that the United States would begin ground operations “immediately” to interdict suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.
The capital and largest city of Venezuela is Caracas, with a population of approximately 2 million people and one of the largest cities in South America.
Regime accuses Maduro of drug trafficking and terrorism
President Trump has accused President Maduro of being a drug trafficker who is shipping fentanyl, which has contributed to America’s opioid crisis.
On November 24, the State Department designated Maduro and other government officials as members of a foreign terrorist organization. U.S. authorities have named the Cartel de los Soles (“Cartel of the Suns” in English) a government-sponsored terrorist organization. Experts told USA TODAY that the name, considered slang, comes from the epaulettes of Venezuelan military commanders and the leaders’ alleged ties to drug trafficking.
Experts say drug corruption exists in Venezuela’s military, but the organization does not exist in the same way as existing drug trafficking networks.
While other drugs, such as cocaine, have ties to Venezuela, fentanyl, a highly potent synthetic opioid, is neither a source nor a transit point on the drug’s route to the United States. Fentanyl precursors primarily come from China, and the drug is produced in Mexico and then sent across the border, primarily through legal ports of entry.
US military launches attack on boat
Ahead of Trump’s announcement, the military attacked several ships in international waters off the coast of South America. Officials have accused the boats of smuggling drugs into the United States without proof being presented to the public or Congress.
So far, 83 people are known to have died on some 21 boats, including many Venezuelans as well as other South American and Caribbean nationals.
The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights said the attack violated international human rights law. Former military officials, law enforcement officials and legal analysts say the attack was illegal and amounted to extrajudicial killings.
Millions flee oppressive government in South American country
According to the United Nations refugee agency, nearly 8 million people have fled Venezuela since the mid-2010s. The New York Times reported that the number of people who left the South American country accounted for about one-fifth of Venezuela’s population.
The oil-rich country’s economy is in collapse, marked by poverty, allegations of corruption and widespread violence, including an oppressive crackdown by Maduro’s government, widely considered a left-wing dictatorship. Under President Maduro’s United Socialist Party, Venezuela has held elections seen as undemocratic, with international observers and Venezuelan opposition leaders saying Maduro lost the 2024 election. He remained in power.
The United States has seen a wave of asylum-seeking migrants from Venezuela, but most have gone to neighboring countries, primarily Peru and Brazil, which border Colombia. The Trump administration also labeled many Venezuelan immigrants as members of the criminal organization Torren de Aragua, despite little or no evidence.
US presence in Latin America increases under Trump administration
In addition to moving strategic military assets to the Western Hemisphere, President Trump has frequently addressed the situation in Latin America.
On November 28, President Trump encouraged Hondurans to vote for conservative presidential candidates in the upcoming election, while also saying he would pardon a former president convicted of drug trafficking in the United States. At the same time, he instructed President Maduro to stay away from Honduras.
The United States has a long history of regime change throughout Latin America. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, several U.S.-backed coups and direct interventions overthrew mainly left-wing governments.
Contributors: Phillip Bailey, Josh Meyer, zach anderson, Cybele Mays-Osterman, Reuters
