WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – On Saturday, President Donald Trump declared that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be regarded as entirely “closed,” a statement that intensified scrutiny of U.S. actions against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro. In response, Maduro’s administration accused Trump of issuing a “colonial threat” aimed at compromising the nation’s sovereignty.
The White House did not clarify Trump’s post on his Truth Social platform, leaving it ambiguous whether he was introducing a new directive or simply reiterating his stance against Maduro. This stance has included various operations in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific, targeting small vessels suspected of drug trafficking and escalating naval presence in those waters. These operations have resulted in over 80 fatalities since early September.
In his address, Trump directed his call for an aerial blockade to “Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” rather than directly confronting Maduro.
Venezuelan authorities strongly dismissed Trump’s airspace closure claim, labeling it as a “colonial threat” aimed at violating Venezuela’s “territorial integrity, aeronautical security, and complete sovereignty.”
The Venezuelan Foreign Ministry described Trump’s remarks as a “hostile, unilateral, and arbitrary act.”
Additionally, the statement highlighted that U.S. immigration officials had independently halted biweekly deportation flights of Venezuelan migrants. Following dialogues between the two nations, over 13,000 Venezuelans have been sent back to Venezuela this year on numerous chartered flights, the latest of which landed in Caracas on Friday, as per flight-tracking information.
International airlines last week began to cancel flights to Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration told pilots to be cautious flying around the country because of heightened military activity.
The FAA’s jurisdiction is generally limited to the United States and its territories. The agency does routinely warn pilots about the dangers of flying over areas with ongoing conflicts or military activity around the globe, as it did earlier this month with Venezuela. The FAA works with other countries and the International Civil Aviation Organization on international issues. The FAA and ICAO did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.
Trump’s administration has sought to ratchet up pressure on Maduro. The U.S. government does not view Maduro as the legitimate leader of the oil-rich but increasingly impoverished South American nation and he faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.
U.S. forces have conducted bomber flights near Venezuela and the USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s most advanced aircraft carrier, was sent to the area. The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear” mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
There are bipartisan calls for greater oversight of the U.S. military strikes against vessels in the region after The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of the Sept. 2 attack on suspected drug smugglers.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and its top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee “will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Trump’s team has weighed both military and nonmilitary options with Venezuela, including covert action by the CIA.
Trump has publicly floated the idea of talking to Maduro. The New York Times reported Friday that Trump and Maduro had spoken. The White House declined to answer questions about the conversation.
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Molina reported from Quito, Ecuador. Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
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