Donald Trump is increasing the pressure on Nicolas Maduro. US says Venezuela's airspace should be considered 'completely closed'
Donald Trump and Nicolas Maduro Photo: Jim WATSON / AFP / Profimedia
The Trump administration is increasing pressure on Venezuela, and the campaign includes a major military deployment in the Caribbean Sea, where the largest aircraft carrier on the planet has been sent.
US President Donald Trump warned on Saturday that airspace over and near Venezuela should be considered closed, in what AFP described as the latest escalation in the dispute between Washington and Caracas' leftist leader Nicolas Maduro.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug dealers and human traffickers, please consider the airspace over and around Venezuela completely closed,” Donald Trump said in a post on Truth Social, his social media platform.
The American leader did not provide other details.
The US is stepping up the pressure
Washington says the goal is to fight drug trafficking, but Caracas insists the ultimate goal of American activities in the region is regime change in Venezuela. Even Trump administration officials have said they want to see Nicolas Maduro removed from power, notes The New York Times (NYT).
US forces have struck more than 20 vessels it accuses of being involved in drug trafficking in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean since early September. The operations resulted in the death of over 80 people.
Discussion between Trump and Maduro
The NYT reported on Friday, citing sources, that Presidents Donald Trump and Nicolas Maduro spoke on the phone last week and discussed a possible meeting, but nothing was set and Washington continues to increase military pressure on Venezuela.
The head of the US State Department, Marco Rubio, also took part in the conversation, and the discussion took place just a few days after the institution's decision to classify Nicolas Maduro as the leader of the Cartel de Los Soles, a group considered by the Trump administration to be a foreign terrorist organization, came into force.
The NYT reported in October that Maduro offered the United States a significant stake in Venezuelan oil fields, along with other opportunities for American companies, in an effort to defuse tensions. However, the leader in Caracas wanted to stay in power, and US officials broke off those talks in early November.
An aggressive military posture in relation to Caracas
In Friday's article, the NYT explained that the US military's strikes in the region are part of a broader aggressive posture against Venezuela, where Maduro has remained in power after a 2024 round of elections that the US has called corrupt. Washington has sent an aircraft carrier group to the waters near Venezuela, sent Air Force bombers over the region, prepared secret action plans and constantly threatened the use of force.
On Thanksgiving night, flanked by US military leaders, Donald Trump said efforts to combat drug trafficking would shift to a land registry. “Land is easier, but that will start very soon,” the US president told reporters at Mar-a-Lago.
