President Donald Trump declared Saturday that all airspace over and surrounding Venezuela should be considered closed, a major declaration amid the United States’ rising escalations against the South American nation.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social. “Thank you for your attention to this matter!”
The Trump administration has ramped up pressure on Venezuela in recent months, starting with its lethal strikes against suspected drug-carrying vessels in the Caribbean, strikes that have killed at least 83 people and have been condemned by critics, experts and lawmakers alike as "extrajudicial killings.”
Beyond the strikes on sea vessels, the Trump administration has also discussed plans to assassinate Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, has deployed an aircraft carrier strike group to just off of Venezuela’s coast, and suggested that land operations would begin “very soon.”