US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday in a message on his social network fact“Airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and human traffickers” consider that Venezuelan airspace “will remain completely closed.”
“To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and human traffickers: We ask you to keep in mind that the airspace over Venezuela and its surrounding areas will remain completely closed. Thank you for your attention! President Donald Trump,” the North American country’s president’s message read.
Trump’s statements come at a time of severe tension in relations between Washington and Caracas, and without clarifying any other circumstances related to the aforementioned closure.
They claim that Trump spoke by phone with Maduro, before appointing him as head of a terrorist organization
Trump and Maduro spoke by phone last weekend, and even discussed a possible meeting between them in the United States, although there are no concrete plans to hold it, as revealed by various sources cited by the New York Times on Friday.
Informed sources told the newspaper that Foreign Minister Marco Rubio, a strong opponent of Maduro, whom he considers an illegitimate president, also participated in the phone conversation. However, officials from the White House and from Miraflores declined to talk about the issue, although the call was confirmed by two people close to the Venezuelan government.
However, Trump said on Tuesday that he “can talk to save many lives” with Maduro, a conversation that would be “welcomed” in Venezuela, according to Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab.
The conversation could have taken place before November 24, when the designation of the Sun Cartel as a terrorist organization took effect. According to the United States, the cartel, which will be led by Maduro and other senior regime officials, is responsible for “terrorist violence throughout our hemisphere, as well as drug trafficking into the United States and Europe,” along with other organizations such as the Tren de Aragua and the Sinaloa Cartel.
The launch of the call comes a day after Trump announced that the US Armed Forces would “very soon” begin “stopping” “Venezuelan drug traffickers” on the ground as well.
Trump said in a phone call with the army on the occasion of Thanksgiving: “We will start stopping them by land. It is also easier by land, but that will start very soon. We have warned them to stop sending poison into our country.”
American media reported that several negotiations took place between members of the Venezuelan government and Washington. Recently, the New York Times reported that Maduro has offered the United States a major stake in the country’s oil fields, along with a host of other opportunities for American companies. But Maduro sought to remain in power, and US officials halted those talks in early October.
For its part, the Miami Herald reported that Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge submitted two proposals to the United States, mediated by Qatar.