DONALD Trump has declared Venezuela’s airspace will be “closed in its entirety” after vowing that land strikes will start “very soon”.
The US president’s warning comes amid escalating tensions between Washington and Caracas – and fears of all-out war over Venezuela’s drug gangs.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
The airspace closure comes as US and Venezuela continue to clash over Trump’s war on drugs – and the US ramps up its military presence in the Caribbean.
On Thursday, Trump vowed to escalate military action against alleged drug smugglers, saying the US military would start land operations in Venezuela “very soon”.
He said: “You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also.
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“The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”
Last week, the US aviation regulator warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela due to a “worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around” the country.
Venezuela has since revoked operating rights for six major international airlines that have suspended flights into the country following the warning from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
Trump has accused Maduro of heading a state-embedded criminal empire that has corrupted the military, intelligence agencies, the courts and parliament.
Since Trump launched his full-scale war on drugs, dozens of strike have taken out alleged drug traffickers and their boats, killing more than 80 people accused of attempting to transport narcotics into the US.
As part of Operation Southern Spear, some of the most advanced aircraft carriers are among the ships that have been deployed into the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific to tackle these illegal vessels.
The US last week designated Venezuela’s Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organisation, putting the cartels in the same category as Al Qaeda and Hamas.
Experts say the Cartel de los Soles is not a traditional cartel but a vast patronage web inside the Venezuelan state.
Maduro has alleged Trump’s build-up is designed to drive him out of power.
It’s now reported that Trump could meet Maduro for face-to-face crunch talks after the pair held a secret phone call.
During the call, the pair reportedly discussed a possible meeting in the US, sources told the New York Times.
If the summit took place, it would mark a dramatic shift in Trump’s policy towards his South American counterpart – and mark Maduro’s first ever meetup with a US president.
But there are currently no plans for such an historic encounter to take place yet despite the recent call, reports say.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio was included in the conversation.
On Wednesday, bizarre footage showed Nicolas Maduro swinging a large sword in the air whilst vowing to defy the US in his latest desperate stunt.
The 63-year-old tyrant was seen in camouflage fatigues and whipping out the blade before crowds in Caracas.
Maduro has vowed that there is “no threat” that could catch his country off-guard.
He said: “There is no threat or aggression that will take us by surprise or frighten our people, who have prepared themselves to defend their land, their sea, and their air.”
Amid fraught relations with Trump, Maduro said: “Foreign imperialist forces have been continuously threatening to disrupt the peace of the Caribbean Sea and Venezuela, under false pretenses that no one believes.”
He added: “It has been 17 weeks of psychological warfare.”