Trump Says Airspace Above and Around Venezuela Should Be Considered Closed in Its Entirety; Venezuela Calls It a Colonialist Threat
On November 29, 2025, President Donald J. Trump posted on his Truth Social platform: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY." The White House did not respond to questions about the post, and it was unclear whether he was announcing a new policy or reinforcing the messaging around his pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
Venezuela's Foreign Ministry said in a statement the same day that it forcefully rejected Trump's claim about closing the airspace, calling it a "colonialist threat" intended to undermine the country's territorial integrity, aeronautical security and full sovereignty. "Such declarations constitute a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act, incompatible with the principles of international law," the statement said, calling on the international community, the United Nations and other multilateral bodies to firmly reject it. The statement also said U.S. immigration authorities had unilaterally suspended the flights repatriating Venezuelan migrants, which had been operating twice a week; under arrangements between the two governments, more than 13,000 Venezuelans had been deported to Venezuela this year on dozens of chartered flights, the latest of which arrived in Caracas late on Friday.
A week earlier, on November 21, the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration had warned of a "potentially hazardous situation" when flying over Venezuela, citing a worsening security situation and heightened military activity in and around the country. International airlines then suspended flights, and this week Venezuela's civil aviation authority revoked the operating rights of six foreign airlines, Iberia, TAP Portugal, Avianca, LATAM Colombia, Turkish Airlines and Gol, after they failed to resume flights within a 48-hour deadline. On Thanksgiving Day, November 27, Trump told service members on a call that land-based operations against drug trafficking inside Venezuela would begin "very soon."
Source: President of the United States
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
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