US President Donald Trump said on Saturday that airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered “entirely closed” but gave no further details as Washington ramps up pressure on President Nicolás Maduro’s government.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please consider that the airspace over and around Venezuela is completely closed,” Trump said in a Truth Social post.
Venezuela’s Communications Ministry, which handles all press inquiries for the government, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Trump’s post.
The US Department of Defense did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
US attacks on suspected drug trafficking ships in the Caribbean have been underway for months, along with a US military buildup in the region, and Trump has authorized covert operations by his Central Intelligence Agency in Venezuela.
The president told military service members this week that the United States “very soon” begin ground operations to arrest alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers.
Last week, the US aviation regulator warned major airlines of a “potentially dangerous situation” when flying over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation and increased military activity in or around” the South American country.
Venezuela revoked operating rights for six major international airlines that had suspended flights to the country after the warning from the United States Federal Aviation Administration.
The Trump administration has accused Maduro of being involved in drug trafficking, a charge he has denied.
Maduro, in power since 2013, has said that Trump seeks to overthrow him and that Venezuelan citizens and military will resist any such attempt.
U.S. forces in the region have so far focused on counternarcotics operations, although the firepower they muster far exceeds anything they need.
Since September they have carried out at least 21 attacks against suspected drug trafficking ships in the Caribbean and Pacific, killing at least 83 people.
