United States President Donald Trump has said the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”, as tensions between the countries escalate.
There was no immediate response by Venezuela to Trump’s social media post on Saturday.
“To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he wrote on his Truth Social platform.
Trump’s post comes amid weeks of escalating rhetoric by senior US officials against Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his government.
While the Trump administration has said it is targeting Venezuela as part of a push to combat drug trafficking, experts and human rights observers have warned that Washington appears to be laying the groundwork for an attempt to unlawfully remove Maduro from power.
The US has deployed an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and carried out a series of deadly bombings on vessels it accused of being involved in drug trafficking, killing dozens of people in what United Nations experts have described as extrajudicial killings.
Earlier this week, Trump also warned that he would start targeting Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” soon.
During a speech broadcast on national television on Thursday, Maduro said Venezuelans would not be intimidated.
The Venezuelan president had said the US “was increasing what he called ‘excuses and lies’ to try and justify an intervention in Venezuela, and that was before this announcement was made [on Saturday] by President Trump”, Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman explained.
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