TL;DR
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Donald Trump announced the closure of Venezuelan airspace, citing growing tensions and a warning from US aviation regulators regarding security threats due to military activity.
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The Venezuelan government condemned the announcement as a “colonialist threat” and asserted its sovereignty, stating that it would not accept interference from foreign powers.
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The US has increased military presence in the region and initiated covert operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers, culminating in a recent airstrike that killed individuals associated with drug trafficking.
Trump closes airspace ‘above and surrounding’ Venezuela | World News
Donald Trump says the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”.
The US president made the announcement on Truth Social amid growing tensions with the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
He wrote: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
It comes after the US aviation regulator warned airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation and heightened military activity”.
The South American nation subsequently revoked operating rights for six major airlines that heeded the warning and suspended flights to the country.
Venezuela’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement on Saturday evening it “denounces and condemns” what it called a “colonialist threat” of “illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela”.
It accused Mr Trump of threatening “the sovereignty of the national airspace, territorial integrity, aeronautical security, and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state”.
The US president’s actions were “hostile” and part of a “permanent policy of aggression against our country”, which broke both international law and the UN Charter, it said.
“Venezuela will not accept orders, threats, or interference from any foreign power,” it added.
“No authority outside the Venezuelan institutional framework has the power to interfere with, block, or condition the use of national airspace.”
Mr Trump told the US military this week that land operations against suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers would begin “very soon”.
The president has accused his Venezuelan counterpart of involvement in drug trafficking, which he denies.
Mr Maduro, widely considered a dictator, has been president since 2013, and says Mr Trump wants to oust him.
In recent weeks, America’s counter-narcotics operations have seen at least 83 people killed in airstrikes on vessels in the Caribbean Sea.
The first such airstrike was against a Venezuelan vessel and killed all 11 people on board.
There’s also been a US military buildup in the region, and Trump has authorised covert CIA operations in Venezuela.
The US president has not yet offered more details.