The president of the United States, Donald Trump warned this Saturday in a message through his social network Truththat the “airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers” consider that Venezuela’s airspace “will remain closed in its entirety.”
“To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and human traffickers: we ask you to consider that the airspace over Venezuela and its surroundings will remain completely closed. Thank you for your attention! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP,” states the message from the president of the North American country.
Trump’s statements come at a time of high tension in relations between Washington and Caracas, and without clarifying any other circumstances related to said closure.
Trump and Maduro spoke by phone late last week and they even discussed a possible meeting between the two in the United States although there are no concrete plans for it to take place, revealed different sources cited this Friday by the New York Times.
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio – a staunch opponent of Maduro, whom he considers an illegitimate president – also participated in the telephone conversation, sources with knowledge of the call told the newspaper. However, both officials from the White House and from Miraflores refused to talk about the issue, although the call was confirmed by two people close to the Venezuelan government.
However, Trump had said on Tuesday that “he could speak to save many lives” with Maduro, a conversation that would be “welcome” in Venezuela, according to Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab.
The conversation would have occurred before November 24, when the designation of the Cartel of the Suns as a terrorist organization came into effect. According to the United States, the cartel, which would be led by Maduro and other senior officials of the regime, is responsible for “terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere, as well as drug trafficking to the United States and Europe,” along with other organizations such as Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The revelation of the call comes a day after Trump announced that the United States Armed Forces will “begin very soon” to “stop” “Venezuelan drug traffickers” on land as well.
“We’re going to start stopping them by land. Also, by land it’s easier, but that’s going to start very soon. We warned them to stop sending poison into our country,” Trump said in a Thanksgiving call with the military.
US media have reported several negotiations between members of the Venezuelan government and Washington. Recently, the NYT reported that Maduro had offered the United States a significant stake in the country’s oil fields, along with a host of other opportunities for American companies. But Maduro sought to remain in power, and U.S. officials broke off those talks in early October.
For its part, the Miami Herald reported that the Venezuelan vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, and her brother, Jorge, had made two proposals to the United States, with the intermediation of Qatar.