Venezuela on Saturday strongly condemned the message from US President Donald Trump, who warned airlines and pilots that the South American country's airspace"will remain completely closed," and criticized him for "unprecedentedly" attempting to "give orders and threaten the sovereignty" of this nation, according to a statement released on Telegram.

In the document, released by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil, Venezuela asserts that the US action"violates" Article 1 of the Charter of the United Nations.

"Venezuela demands unrestricted respect for its airspace, protected under the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and reaffirmed in the Chicago Convention of 1944, whose Article 1 categorically recognizes that each State has exclusive and absolute sovereignty over the airspace that covers its territory," says the three-page text.

Caracas also reports that the United States"has unilaterally suspended Venezuelan migrant flights"

that were being carried out regularly and weekly within the framework of the repatriation of Venezuelans through the Plan Vuelta a la Patria (Return to the Homeland Plan).

So far this year, 75 flights have been carried out to repatriate 13,956 Venezuelans, the statement said.

Trump says Venezuelan airspace is closed

US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that the airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered completely closed, amid escalating tensions with leftist leader Nicolás Maduro.

"To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers, and human traffickers, please consider that the airspace over and around Venezuela is completely closed," he wrote.

Trump on his Truth Social network without giving further details.

Since the beginning of September, the government of

Trump increased pressure on Venezuela, with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world's largest aircraft carrier.

The US president says his goal is to stop drug trafficking from the South American country, but Caracas says he is seeking regime change.

Following the deployment of the military fleet, US forces have killed at least 83 people in their more than 20 attacks against suspected drug boats in the Caribbean and the eastern Pacific.

So far, Washington has not provided any evidence that these vessels were used to transport drugs or posed a threat to the United States.