US President Donald Trump has stated that the airspace over and around Venezuela should be regarded as “closed in its entirety”, heightening tensions between Washington and Caracas.
Trump issued the directive to “all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers” in a post on X on Saturday.
“Please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” the post said.
Venezuelan officials have not yet issued a response to Trump’s remarks.
The United States has recently stepped up its actions against Venezuela, focusing on what it claims are efforts to curb alleged drug trafficking operations connected to the country.
In recent months, the US has conducted several lethal airstrikes on vessels it alleged were involved in drug smuggling, resulting in dozens of deaths.
United Nations experts have labelled the strikes as extrajudicial killings. The incidents also prompted the United Kingdom—one of Washington’s closest allies—to halt intelligence cooperation with the US.
Officials in the UK explained that the decision stemmed from reluctance to be complicit in killings they considered beyond the agreed scope of intelligence collaboration.
On Thursday, Trump stated that the US could “very soon” begin striking alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers on land.
Following Trump’s remarks, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro said the nation would not be intimidated.
Although the Trump administration has presented its actions as part of a war on drugs, analysts suggest the moves may be laying the foundation for an attempt to unlawfully remove Maduro from office.
Trump has consistently opposed Maduro’s leadership.
In August, his administration doubled the reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture, accusing him of being “one of the largest narco-traffickers in the world”.
The reward, previously set at $25 million, has now been increased to $50 million.