US President Donald Trump has that airspace over and around Venezuela declared closed. “To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human smugglers, please consider the airspace over and around Venezuela to be completely closed,” Trump wrote on his social network Truth Social on Saturday. It was not immediately clear whether there would be any direct consequences from the posting.
The USA has had in recent weeks several warships and the largest aircraft carrier in the world sent to the Caribbean – according to their own statements, to combat drug trafficking. Venezuela’s left-wing nationalist president Nicolas Maduro However, suspects that the right-wing government in Washington is planning to overthrow him. Washington accuses Caracas of controlling drug gangs and using them specifically against the USA, thereby endangering the security of the USA and its citizens.
So far more than 80 dead
Since September, US forces have repeatedly attacked boats belonging to alleged drug smugglers in the Caribbean and the Eastern Pacific. According to US information, more than 80 people have been killed and more than 20 ships hit. The USA did not provide any evidence that the boats were used for drug smuggling or that the ships posed a threat to the USA.
This is accompanied by a military deployment by the USA in the region. Trump also approved covert CIA operations in Venezuela. The president told military officials this week that the U.S. would begin operations on land “very soon” to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers. “We’re going to start stopping them by land,” Trump said Thursday.
Telephone between Trump and Maduro
On Friday, the New York Times newspaper reported that Trump and Maduro had recently spoken on the phone. They talked about a possible meeting in the USA.
Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration warned major airlines of a potentially dangerous situation when flying over Venezuela due to a deteriorating security situation and increased military activity in or around the South American country. Venezuela then revoked the operating licenses of six major international airlines after they suspended flights to the country following the warning from the US Federal Aviation Administration.