DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,
US chief’s publish on his Fact Social platform comes amid weeks of escalating rhetoric by US officers towards Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Printed On 29 Nov 2025
United States President Donald Trump has stated the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela is to be closed “in its entirety”, as tensions between the international locations escalate.
There was no quick response by Venezuela to Trump’s social media publish on Saturday.
Really helpful Tales
checklist of three gadgetsfinish of checklist
“To all Airways, Pilots, Drug Sellers, and Human Traffickers, please think about THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he wrote on his Fact Social platform.
Trump’s publish comes amid weeks of escalating rhetoric by senior US officers towards Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro and his authorities.
Whereas the Trump administration has stated it’s concentrating on Venezuela as a part of a push to fight drug trafficking, consultants and human rights observers have warned that Washington seems to be laying the groundwork for an try to unlawfully take away Maduro from energy.
The US has deployed an aircraft carrier to the Caribbean and carried out a collection of lethal bombings on vessels it accused of being concerned in drug trafficking, killing dozens of individuals in what United Nations consultants have described as extrajudicial killings.
Earlier this week, Trump also warned that he would begin concentrating on Venezuelan drug trafficking “by land” quickly.
Throughout a speech broadcast on nationwide tv on Thursday, Maduro stated Venezuelans wouldn’t be intimidated.
The Venezuelan president had stated the US “was growing what he known as ‘excuses and lies’ to try to justify an intervention in Venezuela, and that was earlier than this announcement was made [on Saturday] by President Trump”, Al Jazeera’s Lucia Newman defined.
Worry of assaults
Newman stated the Trump administration has been “systematically growing the strain” on Maduro’s authorities, whereas on the similar time, there have been studies that the US president has spoken along with his Venezuelan counterpart.
On Friday, The New York Occasions reported that Trump spoke with Maduro final week and mentioned a attainable assembly between the 2 leaders within the US.
Citing a number of individuals with data of the matter, the newspaper stated there have been no plans in the intervening time for such a gathering, which – if it have been to happen – could be the first-ever encounter between Maduro and a US president.
Trump is “going cold and warm” vis-a-vis Venezuela, stated Newman.
She added that whereas Trump’s assertion on Saturday is “an escalation … on paper”, it stays to be seen whether or not Washington will assault the nation, “which is the concern being raised”.
“If you inform airways to not go to Venezuela, while you say that the airspace has now been closed, you’re sending a really, very aggressive message. Whether or not it will play out is one other matter altogether,” she stated.
The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had warned airways final week of a “probably hazardous scenario” in Venezuelan airspace on account of a “worsening safety scenario and heightened navy exercise”.
Six airways that account for a lot of the journey in South America then suspended flights to Venezuela.
That drew the ire of Caracas, which suspended the businesses’ working rights and accused them of “becoming a member of the actions of state terrorism promoted by the US”.
