Venezuela has accused United States President Donald Trump of issuing a colonial threat after he declared on social media that the airspace above the country should be treated as completely closed. Caracas said the remark carried no legal force yet could unsettle travel plans and heighten worries among airlines already wary of growing military tension in the region.
In a statement, Venezuela’s foreign ministry described the comment as an extravagant and unlawful act that targeted ordinary Venezuelans. Trump had posted on Truth Social telling pilots, airlines, drug traffickers and human traffickers to consider the skies above and around Venezuela closed in their entirety. Washington has not responded publicly to the criticism.
The remark arrived as the United States increased its military presence in the Caribbean. American officials say the deployment is aimed at tackling trafficking routes that run across the sea. President Nicolás Maduro has repeatedly rejected those claims, saying Washington is using the subject of drug smuggling as an excuse to attempt to remove him from power.
Members of Congress from both parties have questioned Trump’s stance, noting that he did not seek approval from lawmakers. Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer warned that his moves toward Venezuela pushed the United States closer to the risk of another foreign conflict. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene echoed the same point and said that the authority to declare war lies with Congress.
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The Federal Aviation Administration had already alerted airlines to increased military activity near Venezuela. Only days after that notice, Caracas barred six major carriers which include Iberia, TAP Portugal, Gol, Latam, Avianca and Turkish Airlines from landing. The government said the airlines failed to comply with a request to resume flights within a two day deadline.
Venezuela’s military also held exercises along its coastline, showing anti aircraft equipment and artillery on state television. The foreign ministry accused Washington of suspending weekly migrant repatriation flights and urged international bodies including the United Nations to reject what it called an immoral act of aggression.
The United States has positioned the USS Gerald Ford with roughly fifteen thousand troops in the wider region. Washington says it wants to stop trafficking networks. American forces have carried out more than twenty strikes on boats they say transported illegal narcotics, leaving more than eighty people dead, but have not supplied proof that the vessels carried drugs.
Maduro’s government argues that the operations are part of an effort to overthrow him, especially after his re election last year was dismissed by Venezuela’s opposition and several foreign governments as fraudulent. The United States also labelled the Cartel de los Soles, which it says is led by Maduro and high ranking allies, as a foreign terrorist organisation. The move gives American agencies greater authority to pursue and disrupt the group.
Caracas has firmly rejected the designation. Diosdado Cabello, Venezuela’s interior and justice minister, who is accused by Washington of being a senior figure within the group, has long described the cartel as an invention. The United States state department maintains that the network exists and claims it has spread through the country’s armed forces, intelligence services, legislature and courts.
