Trump says Venezuela airspace should be considered ‘closed in its entirety’

• Trump wrote on his Truth Social network, “please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY“
• Washington says the aim is to curb drug trafficking, but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that the airspace above and near Venezuela should be considered closed, the latest escalation in a standoff with leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.

“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social network, “please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”

The US president did not elaborate. Trump’s administration is piling pressure on Venezuela, with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world’s largest aircraft carrier.

Washington says the aim is to curb drug trafficking, but Caracas insists regime change is the ultimate goal. US forces have carried out strikes against more than 20 alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing more than 80 people.

Washington has yet to release evidence that the vessels it targeted were used to smuggle drugs or posed a threat to the United States. Regional tensions have flared as a result of the campaign and the accompanying military buildup.

US aviation authorities last week urged civilian aircraft operating in Venezuelan airspace to “exercise caution” due to the “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela.” That warning prompted six airlines that account for much of the travel in South America to suspend flights to Venezuela.

The move infuriated Caracas and led it to ban the companies — Spain’s Iberia, Portugal’s TAP, Colombia’s Avianca, Chile and Brazil’s LATAM, Brazil’s GOL and Turkish Airlines — for “joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government.” The New York Times reported on Friday that Trump and Maduro had spoken by phone last week and discussed a possible meeting in the United States.

The report about the Trump-Maduro call came a day after the US president said efforts to halt Venezuelan drug trafficking by land were imminent, further ratcheting up tensions with Caracas.