Trump tells airlines to consider Venezuelan airspace "totally closed"
Washington's psychological warfare against Maduro continues, and military action seems increasingly likely.
BarcelonaUS President Donald Trump warned on Saturday in a message posted on his social media account, Truth, that airlines and pilots should consider Venezuelan airspace "totally closed." "To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers, and human smugglers: Please take note that the airspace over and around Venezuela will remain closed in its entirety. Thank you for your attention! President Donald J. Trump," the president's message reads, without clarifying any circumstances. at a time of great tension between the two countries.
The message comes after the newspaper The New York Times He reported on a phone conversation between Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.To explore a possible meeting, a call that neither side has officially confirmed nor denied. The conversation, which took place via telephone, occurred a few days before the State Department declared the Cartel of the Suns a terrorist group and identified Maduro as its leader. In fact, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was also present on the phone call with the Venezuelan leader. Despite the contact between the two countries, Washington's psychological warfare against Maduro has not ceased, and a possible military action against Venezuela seems increasingly likely.
On November 21, the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) urged "extreme caution" when flying over Venezuela and the southern Caribbean due to what it considers "a potentially dangerous situation" in the area. And on Thursday, in a Thanksgiving call with military personnel, the US president warned that the armed forces would "begin very soon" to "stop Venezuelan drug traffickers" on the ground, after themilitary actions by seahave been a success, he emphasized. "You've probably noticed that they no longer want to deliver [the drugs] by sea, and we'll start stopping them on the ground. Besides, it's easier on the ground, but this will start very soon," Trump said.
The warning comes in the context of US bombings of boats in the Caribbean, which have caused several deaths and are being carried out under the pretext—unproven—of fighting drug trafficking, in which Venezuelan authorities, and especially Maduro, are also implicated.
Trump justifies the military actions with the argument that the alleged drug traffickers "are sending their poison to the United States, where it kills thousands of people every year." "In recent weeks you have been working to stop the drug traffickers from Venezuela, of which there are many, although not many are coming by sea anymore," he said, praising the attacks on vessels in the Caribbean and the Pacific, where U.S. forces have killed more than eighty. These attacks have been carried out without congressional authorization, drawing criticism from legal experts and Democrats, who accuse the government of intentionally targeting civilians who may be suspected of crimes, but who are not combatants. According to Trump, the attacks have stopped "85% of the flow of drugs by sea." No data or causal correlation has yet been presented to support these claims.