CNN– The United States continued its pressure campaign against Venezuela on Saturday as President Donald Trump issued a broad directive on social media, warning airlines, pilots and criminal networks to avoid Venezuelan airspace.
“Please consider the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.
The announcement marks the latest turn of the wheel as the Trump administration intensifies its efforts to force Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of office. Officially, the Trump administration says it is working to cut down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs — but regime change is a possible side effect of those efforts.
Venezuela’s foreign minister denounced Trump’s Saturday directive, calling it a “colonialist threat” that constitutes an “extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.”
The US can’t close another country’s airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration last week warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela and urged them to exercise caution. Direct flights by US passenger or cargo carriers to Venezuela have been suspended since 2019, but some US airlines fly over the country for South American flights.
As Trump has sought to clamp down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs from the South American nation, in recent weeks the president acknowledged he had signed off on plans for the CIA to operate inside Venezuela. And Trump designated Maduro and his government allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization earlier this week, a move administration officials argue will give the US expanded military options for striking inside Venezuela. On Thursday, Trump suggested land strikes inside the country could come imminently.
“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore,” Trump told service members during a Thanksgiving call.
“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” the president continued. “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday applauded the president’s suggestion that US land action in Venezuela would start soon.
“I very much appreciate and respect the determination by President Trump to deal with the drug caliphate countries that inhabit our backyard — chief among them Venezuela,” the South Carolina Republican said in a statement provided to CNN.
The US military has amassed more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops in the region as part of what the Pentagon has branded “Operation Southern Spear.” Dozens have been killed in boat strikes as part of the anti-drug-trafficking campaign.For his part, Maduro has sought to project strength and control. “I ask you to remain unshakeable in your composure, ready and prepared to defend our right as a nation. We are a republic in arms!” he said in a televised address to troops Thursday evening.
Trump aides, led largely by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have continued to discuss a slew of military options against Maduro. Trump cut off all diplomatic talk with Venezuela in October, but he seemed to soften last week when he told reporters that Maduro “would like to talk” and later suggested he would be open to speaking with the Venezuelan leader “at a certain time.”
Maduro and his associates have reached out to the White House through a number of channels, and there are ongoing discussions about what communication between the two countries might look like, multiple administration officials said.
Trump and Maduro spoke by phone last week, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.Earlier this week, Trump framed the change of heart as a matter of saving lives.
“If he’s the leader, if we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that’s fine, and if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine, too,” Trump told reporters when asked why he would engage directly with Maduro given the terrorist organization designation.
During earlier informal talks between the US and Venezuela, Maduro signaled an openness to eventually stepping down, though it would not be for at least 18 months, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. While some US officials thought this might be a solution, the White House eventually concluded it would only support a plan that saw Maduro’s immediate departure.
Meanwhile, Venezuelans are reacting to the growing isolation with a mix of resignation and apprehension.
For Venezuela, the recent geopolitical instability is not without precedent. Over the last 10 years, the nation has seen economic collapse, mass street protests, failed coups and countless conspiracies.
“Will they bomb? Will they not bomb? Who knows. … I don’t really follow the news, and to be honest, nobody knows nothing,” said Marilyn, a waitress at a cafe in Caracas, who asked to use only her first name for fear of retaliation from government officials.
Trump’s threats of potential military action are yet to trigger a tangible impact in the lives of millions of Venezuelans like Marilyn, but the government repression remains palpable. At least 54 people were detained for expressing dissent in October alone, according to the human rights group PROVEA, some arrested simply for sharing anti-Maduro messages on WhatsApp.
The possibility of US strikes is on everyone’s mind, but any mention of it is confined to the private sphere.In public, life carries on as usual, with Christmas carols and Black Friday announcements blending with Maduro’s almost daily appearances on television.
On Monday, Maduro said publicly that no matter what the United States does, “they will not be able to defeat Venezuela,” claiming the South American county is “invincible.”
CNN’s Stefano Pozzebon reported from Caracas, Venezuela.
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Not even Trump really wants a way he is hoping Maduro will realize The US is giving him multiple opportunities to leave office peacefully….The clock is ticking, the sand is falling he needs to hurry up before patients run low and the order is given to precision bomb Maduro’s location…
Venezuela the richest country is South America was always a close ally of the United States and the West.. America will not sit and watch a dictator take control, cause mass migration of the polulation due to economic instability, allow drug cartels to get a free pass through their ports and open the gates to the Russian influence in this hemisphere…NO…..Not gonna happen under the watch of any American President but I know Maduro is taking cover under the fact that Trump is not liked and hopes the world will see Trump as the evil and not him…People who suffer from I hate Trumpism will feel that way but for those of us who can think for ourselves know the truth behind the crisis in Venezuela and Maduro will do more harm than good if left alone….
Once again the US is showing how mighty he is, by declaring the full closure of another countries airspace, but I still believe this is all intimidation, hoping Maduro will give up, or his army get scared and turn against Maduro.
The Noble Peace price winner might be in the background suggesting this, for she to knows a war will destroy her country, it’s people and even it’s neighbors. The same country and people she wants to and intend to rule over, with the friendship and respect of these same neighbors when this is all over.
@this world is a messed up place, while Venezuela was the riches country in Latin America what was the reason that made Chavez got elected if it was fine for the people?
Also what Trump say/done to show doesn’t want to do this? If He didn’t want to work with a dictator why was he so open to signing deals for working with Maduro for oil deals a few months ago?
Venezuela do not produce opioid and cocaine’s that travel through the Caribbean see does so by freight through the ports so the drug argument isn’t a real issue which no proof of being anywhere close to true since again 90+% percent of the cocaine from South America travels through the Pacific.
The mass migration caused by the economic fall will be nothing compared to war refugees, you someone know what Trump feels what about the air being rebuilt in the Caribbean, using Trinidad as an outpost and looking for more outpost and even tried to do so with Grenada and Antigua in advance.
Americas would rather their government use their tax money to fund policies at home instead of funding wars which have caused stability through their lifetimes in the middle east
Venezuela have delt with government that didn’t take care of them before without help or calling for them to be bombed.
@Young Antiguan Communist: Chavez got elected because when you use populist speech and promise..Free everything (regarding what is the cost of that “Free” or from where you are going to get the money) you can attract lot of people with that propaganda. Chavez in that time even call Fidel as a dictator (1998) but later on he become one. HE STARTED to do a nationalization of big industries, but without knowing how to manage them. His own people take a ridiculous advantage of the situation ( He also and his family). That is why Chavez last many years on power. The opposition always was there, but you lack of knowledge of how Latin culture behave..People from some regions don’t want a leader from another region to lead them. That’s why Chavez have it pretty easy to hold the power, Maduro also took advantage of same situation until the opposition started to work together and he realized that if all opposition united in one, they are majority by far..Even during Chavez times People against Chavez Socialist party was by far more than Chavez followers. But they always present 3 or more candidates from diferent regions and parties to fight in General elections against PSUV. If you count how many supporters have PSUV and summarize the total of opposition parties, therr is more population by far against Socialist Party, but they split the voters. Maria Corina from 20 years ago always was a lady that in public denounce the corruption of Chavez, his family and his cabinet. Chavez Daughter in just 4 years accumulated over 600 million USD dollars with 26 years old, and when she was inquire about it she mention “I’m a good in my business”.. That was hilarious.
Maria Corina always tried to unify all parties to defeat PSUV in elections, and just in 2024 she make it possible. Maduro and supporters always was trying to stop her, but they failed this time. The opposition came together and defeat Maduro. He refuse to accept the results, he never show his copy of the report from each electoral table. Maria Corina scanned and upload to a website all her copies yo prove the reality. But still leftist denied this. Chavez and Maduro never had the majority of the population in their side, they have millions of supporters, that is true, but the opposition always was and are more, but split in different parties.
PSUV show during years they are a bunch of populist that steal a lot and mismanaged the Government resources. The PDVSA (Oil company) isn’t in bad condition because USA sanctions, because China and India always demand lot of oil. But they lack of knowledge of how to operate the plant and slowly that huge industry started to suffer the consequences of mismanagement, no upgrade, no proper maintenance, lack of skills of operators in key positions (they good ones were replaced for Socialist followers) and of course the deterioration of the industry was just a Matter of time. Like that, the PSUV undermine lot of key industries and of course they will not accept they did wrong, they blame USA for their faults.
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