US President Donald Trump said today that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed in its entirety.
Trump, in a Truth Social post wrote: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Venezuela’s Communications Ministry, which handles all press inquiries for the government, did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Trump’s post.
The US War Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the Guardian UK.
US strikes against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean have been under way for months, along with a US military buildup in the region, and Trump has authorized covert CIA operations in Venezuela.
The President told military service members this week that the US would “very soon” begin land operations to stop suspected Venezuelan drug traffickers.
Last week, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around” the South American country.
Venezuela revoked operating rights for six major international airlines that had suspended flights to the country after the FAA warning.
The Trump administration has accused the Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro, of involvement in drug trafficking, a charge he has denied.
Maduro, in power since 2013, has said that Trump is seeking to oust him and that Venezuelan citizens and the military will resist any such attempt.
Massive US Military Buildup
US forces in the region have so far focused on counter-narcotics operations, although the assembled firepower far outweighs anything needed for them.
They have carried out at least 21 strikes on alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and Pacific since September, killing at least 83 persons.
Trump has since ordered the world’s largest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, and its strike group towards the region close to Venezuela and the US President continued to order deadly airstrikes on alleged narco-boats.
There has emerged the US’s largest military buildup in Latin America in decades -an ominous sign.
Opposition Rejoices, Says Ready To Succeed Maduro
The prospect of a US military intervention in South America’s fifth most populous nation has delighted some of Maduro’s political enemies, who consider it the only way of breaking his 12-year grip on power.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, the opposition leader María Corina Machado, who has lived in hiding since Maduro was accused of stealing last year’s presidential election from her movement, said her team had made plans for what to do after his fall.
“We are ready to take over government. We have the teams, we have the plans – the first 100 hours, the first 100 days,” she said.
*PHOTO CAPTION: Trump…A raging bull?
