US President Donald Trump has said the airspace over and around Venezuela should be considered a “total closure” in the latest escalation of tensions between Washington and the South American country.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please consider the airspace over and around Venezuela to be a total closure,” Trump said on his Truth Social media account.
The move comes after months of expanding US military operations across Latin America, deploying marines, warships, fighter and bomber aircraft, submarines and drones amid speculation that Washington could launch an attack on Venezuela.
So far, the US military has carried out 21 raids on suspected drug-smuggling vessels, resulting in the deaths of at least 83 people the administration has described as “narco-terrorists”.
On Thursday, Trump said the US would “very soon” begin taking action to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers on the mainland.
It also comes after Washington formally designated the Venezuela-based Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organization, accusing the country’s President Nicolas Maduro and other senior officials of leading it.
The Venezuelan government dismissed the move as a “ridiculous” plan to label a “nonexistent” cartel a terrorist group.
