Speculation about whether or when there will be a US military attack on Venezuelan territory is much greater now that drug trafficking charges against Chavismo have turned into terrorism charges., A new chapter was added this Saturday, when Pres Donald Trump He posted an encrypted message on his social network Truth: “To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please keep in mind that the airspace over and around Venezuela is completely closed.”
He did not give further detailsHe was even ironic by adding “drug traffickers and human traffickers” among its recipients, but it is known that with Trump everything becomes unpredictable, and many have interpreted that message in the context of his war of nerves with Chavismo as a warning of a close attack by the enormous military power that Trump has accumulated in recent months in the Caribbean, which even includes the largest aircraft carrier in the world, the USS Gerald Ford.
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Trump insists he seeks to stop drug trafficking from the South American country to the American market, but Maduro’s panicked government maintains that the drug trafficking accusations are a cover for regime change.
After the deployment of the military fleet of American forces They have already killed at least 83 people in more than 20 attacks against alleged drug boats in the Caribbean and eastern Pacific.
Currently, Washington has not provided any evidence that these ships were used to transport drugs or that they represent a threat to the United States.
Regional tensions escalated as a result of the campaign and the accompanying military buildup. Last week, US aviation authorities urged civilian aircraft operating in Venezuelan airspace to “act with caution,” but Trump was blunt on Saturday, asking them to look into the matter. “Venezuelan airspace is completely closed.”. This was a warning that was read as a possible expectation of military attacks by the force in the Caribbean.
Last week’s warning led to the suspension of flights to and from Venezuela by six airlines that account for a large portion of South American traffic. This measure angered the Maduro government, which announced that it had canceled work permits in the country for the Spanish company “Iberia”, the Portuguese “TAP”, the Colombian “Avianca”, the Colombian branch of the Chilean-Brazilian “LATAM”, the Brazilian “JOL”, and the Turkish company Turkish.
Maduro’s government accuses the airlines of “joining the acts of state terrorism promoted by the United States government, and unilaterally suspending their commercial air operations.” The New York Times reported on Friday that the two leaders held a phone conversation last week in which they discussed a possible meeting in the United States.
News of the call between Trump and Maduro came a day after the US President announced that efforts to stop Venezuelan drug trafficking through the territory were imminent, increasing tensions with Caracas.
AFP/HP