WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — President Donald Trump on Saturday said that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered as “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. His government accused Trump of making a ”colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.
The White House did not respond to questions about what Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, and it was unclear whether he was announcing a new policy or simply reinforcing the messaging around his campaign against Maduro, which has involved multiple strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on small boats accused of ferrying drugs as well as a buildup of naval forces in the region. More than 80 people have been killed in such strikes since early September.
The Republican president addressed his call for an aerial blockade to “Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” rather than to Maduro.
Venezuela’s government said it “forcefully rejects” Trump’s claim about closing the airspace and that it was a “colonial threat” intended to undermine the country’s “territorial integrity, aeronautical security and full sovereignty.”
The Foreign Ministry said “such declarations constitute a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act.”
The statement also said that U.S. immigration authorities had unilaterally suspended biweekly deportation flights of Venezuelan migrants. Following negotiations between the two governments, more than 13,000 Venezuelans have been deported to Venezuela this year on dozens of chartered flights, the latest of which arrived late Friday in Caracas, the capital, according to flight-tracking data.
International airlines last week began to cancel flights to Venezuela after the Federal Aviation Administration told pilots to be cautious flying around the country because of heightened military activity.
The FAA’s jurisdiction is generally limited to the United States and its territories. The agency does routinely warn pilots about the dangers of flying over areas with ongoing conflicts or military activity around the globe, as it did earlier this month with Venezuela. The FAA works with other countries and the International Civil Aviation Organization on international issues. The FAA and ICAO did not immediately respond to requests for comment Saturday.
Trump’s administration has sought to ratchet up pressure on Maduro. The U.S. government does not view Maduro as the legitimate leader of the oil-rich but increasingly impoverished South American nation and he faces charges of narcoterrorism in the U.S.
U.S. forces have conducted bomber flights near Venezuela and the USS Gerald R. Ford, America’s most advanced aircraft carrier, was sent to the area. The Ford rounds off the largest buildup of U.S. firepower in the region in generations. With its arrival, the “Operation Southern Spear” mission includes nearly a dozen Navy ships and about 12,000 sailors and Marines.
There are bipartisan calls for greater oversight of the U.S. military strikes against vessels in the region after The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth issued a verbal order for all crew members to be killed as part of the Sept. 2 attack on suspected drug smugglers.
Republican Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and its top Democrat, Rhode Island Sen. Jack Reed, said in a joint statement late Friday that the committee “will be conducting vigorous oversight to determine the facts related to these circumstances.”
Trump’s team has weighed both military and nonmilitary options with Venezuela, including covert action by the CIA.
Trump has publicly floated the idea of talking to Maduro. The New York Times reported Friday that Trump and Maduro had spoken. The White House declined to answer questions about the conversation.
___
Molina reported from Quito, Ecuador. Associated Press writer Josh Funk in Omaha, Nebraska, contributed to this report.
