Venezuela denounces Trump's warning of an airspace closure
Venezuela denounces Trump's warning of an airspace closure
The statement made by US President Donald Trump that the airspace surrounding Venezuela should be closed has been denounced by Venezuela.
Trump's remarks were referred to as "another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people" by the nation's foreign ministry.
Trump was accused of posing a "colonialist threat" in the Venezuelan statement, and the US lacks the legal right to block another nation's airspace.
The US has increased its military presence in the region and killed over 80 people in at least 21 strikes on vessels it claims were transporting drugs. Nicolás Maduro, the president of Venezuela, claims the US actions are an attempt to remove him, although it has not produced any proof.
Trump posted on Truth Social: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY."
The BBC's request for comment was not immediately answered by the White House.
Trump's failure to seek legislative approval has angered certain members of the US Congress, both Democratic and Republican.
Leading Senate Democrat Chuck Schumer wrote on X on Sunday, "Trump's reckless actions towards Venezuela are pushing America closer and closer to another costly foreign war."
"Under our constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war."
A staunch Trump ally until recently, Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene stated: "Reminder, Congress has the sole power to declare war."
Trump's remarks coincide with the US Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) warning of "heightened military activity in and around Venezuela" a few days ago, which prompted many major airlines to halt operations there. The takeoff and landing permissions were subsequently revoked by Caracas.
In a statement released on Saturday, Venezuela's foreign ministry called on "the international community, the sovereign governments of the world, the UN, and the relevant multilateral organisations to firmly reject this immoral act of aggression."
On the same day, anti-aircraft weaponry and other artillery were shown being manoeuvred on official television as Venezuela's military practiced along the coast.
The United States has placed some 15,000 soldiers and the largest aircraft carrier in the world, the USS Gerald Ford, within striking distance of Venezuela.
It has maintained that the deployment, which is the biggest the US has made in the area since invading Panama in 1989, is intended to fight drug trafficking.
On Thursday, Trump issued a warning that the United States would start "very soon" to stop drug trafficking "by land" from Venezuela.
The US, according to the Venezuelan administration, wants to remove the left-wing Maduro, whose reelection last year was condemned as unfair by the opposition and numerous other countries.
Although other leaders in the area have applauded Trump's position, fellow left-wing President Gustavo Petro of Colombia, who has also been subject to US sanctions, has expressed his belief that the US is employing "violence to dominate" Latin America.
Additionally, the US has classified as a foreign terrorist organisation Cartel de los Soles, also known as Cartel of the Suns, a group it claims is led by Maduro.
When an entity is designated as a terrorist organisation, US law enforcement and military organisations have more authority to target and destroy it.
The designation has been "categorically, firmly, and absolutely rejected" by Venezuela's foreign ministry.
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