US President Donald Trump said on Saturday (29) that Venezuela’s airspace should be considered “completely closed”, in a message published on his “Truth Social” network, increasing tension between the two countries.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, consider the airspace over and around Venezuela to be completely closed,” Trump wrote.
The US President did not provide details about how this announcement would be implemented, but he is strengthening the military presence in the region in the name of combating drug trafficking, through the “Lansa do Sul” operation. The United States sent the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford to the Caribbean in October, as well as the destroyers USS Winston Churchill, USS Mahan, and USS Bainbridge.
Trump accuses Venezuela of directly working in drug smuggling that supplies the American market. The Venezuelan government denies this and insists that the real goal of the American maneuvers is to encourage regime change and control the oil reserves in the country, which is facing a serious economic crisis. President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, was re-elected in 2024 in a disputed election marked by riots and mass arrests.
US forces have carried out attacks against more than 20 suspected Venezuelan drug smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing more than 80 people. Washington has not yet provided evidence that the ships attacked were being used to smuggle drugs or pose a threat to the United States.
According to a report published by the newspaper New York Times On Friday (28), Trump and Maduro recently spoke on the phone and discussed a possible meeting in the United States. Prior to the military deployment to the Caribbean, the US justice system offered a reward of US$50 million for information leading to the arrest of Nicolas Maduro.
Radar in Trinidad and Tobago
Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Kamla Persad-Bissessar, announced on Thursday (27) that the United States is installing radar for a new airport in the archipelago, about ten kilometers off the Venezuelan coast. A US Marine division conducted maneuvers in the country from November 16 to 21.
The local government of Tobago, the country’s second island, said in a statement that it was “aware of the public interest aroused by the statements” of the Prime Minister, which confirmed the presence of US Marines at ANR Robinson International Airport, including the installation of a radar system.
Farley Augustine, First Secretary of the Tobago Association, said that a meeting is being organized to discuss the goal of cooperation, which confirms Tobago’s neutral position.
Trinidad and Tobago also received the US warship USS Gravely in late October. The island’s prime minister, an ally of Donald Trump, said the United States had never requested the archipelago be used for attacks against Venezuela. Military cooperation between the archipelago and the United States angered Venezuela, which canceled gas agreements with Trinidad and Tobago.
With agencies