US Venezuela Heats Up, Caracas Condemns Air Threat From Trump

Venezuelan flag (pixabay)

JAKARTA - The Venezuelan government strongly condemns the statement by the President of the United States (US) Donald Trump about the threat of closing Venezuela's airspace as tensions between the two countries escalate. According to the Venezuelan government, the word of the number one person in the US is a form of colonial threat (invader).

Venezuela condemns and condemns the colonial threat that seeks to influence the sovereignty of our airspace. This is an excessive, illegal, and groundless aggression against the Venezuelan people," the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said in a statement, quoted by Al Jazeera, Sunday, November 30.

Previously, Trump said he would completely close the airspace above and around Venezuela. This move was taken by the US as relations with President Nicolas Maduro escalated.

Trump's statement was delivered through his official social media account, Truth Social on Saturday.

"To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human trafficking traders. Please consider that the airspace above and around Venezuela will be completely closed," Trump wrote, quoted by Al Jazeera.

Although the US government stated that they were taking this step to fight the drug trade, experts and human rights observers considered the US stance to be actually one of the efforts to overthrow Maduro from his seat of power illegally.

Previously, the US was known to have deployed an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and carried out a series of bombings targeting ships accused of involvement in the drug trade. This bombing has reportedly killed dozens of people.

Earlier this week Trump also warned he would soon start targeting the war on Venezuelan drug trafficking by land.