 "‘Colonialist threat’: Venezuela blasts US airspace warning as tensions escalate")
Caracas on Saturday condemned US President Donald Trump’s warning that Venezuelan airspace should be treated as closed, describing the statement as a ‘colonialist threat’. In a formal response, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said the warning aimed to undermine the sovereignty of Venezuelan airspace and amounted to an ’extravagant, illegal and unjustified’ aggression against the Venezuelan people.
The ministry cautioned that any disruption to airspace could halt repatriation flights of Venezuelan migrants from the United States. The warning comes as the Trump administration intensifies pressure on Venezuela, deploying significant military assets in the Caribbean, including the world’s largest aircraft carrier.
Trump posted on his Truth Social network, “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” He offered no further explanation.
Air tensions rise as military activity increases
The warning follows recent advice from US aviation regulators urging airlines to exercise greater caution near Venezuelan territory, prompting several major carriers to suspend flights. By mid-afternoon, data from FlightRadar24 showed only a small number of aircraft operating over the country.
While Washington maintains that its actions aim to curb drug trafficking, Caracas argues that the real objective is regime change. Since early September, US forces have carried out strikes on more than 20 alleged drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean, resulting in at least 83 deaths.
Washington has not yet released evidence that the targeted vessels were used for drug smuggling or posed a threat to the United States.
Escalating the situation further, Trump warned earlier this week that efforts to stop Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” would begin “very soon”. In recent days, aircraft tracking websites have recorded repeated activity by US military aircraft only a few dozen kilometres off the Venezuelan coast.
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