US President Donald Trump says the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety”, escalating tensions between both countries.
Trump directed the notice to “all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers” in a Saturday post on X.
“Please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” the post said.
Venezuelan authorities have yet to respond to Trump’s comments.
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The US has been intensifying operations against Venezuela, focusing primarily on what it says are efforts to combat alleged drug trafficking networks linked to the Caribbean country.
In recent months, the US has carried out a series of deadly bombings on vessels it accused of being involved in drug trafficking, killing dozens of people.
United Nations experts have described the strikes as extrajudicial killings. The attacks also forced the United Kingdom to suspend intelligence sharing with the US, considered to be its closest ally.
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Officials said it was because the UK did not want to be complicit in the killings that it believed were outside the original scope of intelligence sharing.
On Thursday, Trump said the US could “very soon” begin targeting alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers on land.
After Trump’s threat, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the country would not be intimidated.
The Trump administration has framed its attacks as a war against drugs, but analysts say the intent could very well be a groundwork for an attempt to unlawfully remove Maduro from power.
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Trump has long been a critic of Maduro.
In August, his administration doubled a reward for information leading to Maduro’s arrest, accusing him of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world”.
The reward, initially set at $25 million, now stands at $50 million.
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