The Venezuelan government has strongly criticised a warning issued by United States President Donald Trump, describing it as a “colonialist threat” and an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
In a statement released on Saturday, Venezuela’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “rejects and denounces” what it called an unlawful attempt to undermine the nation’s control of its airspace. The ministry described Trump’s remarks as another act of “illegal and unjustified aggression” against the Venezuelan people.
Trump had earlier posted on his Truth Social platform, urging “airlines, pilots, drug traffickers, and human smugglers” to regard Venezuelan airspace as completely closed. He offered no details on how the directive would be implemented or enforced.
The warning comes amid a sharp increase in US military activity in the Caribbean. Washington has deployed the world’s largest aircraft carrier, along with several warships, in what it describes as a stepped-up anti-drug trafficking operation.
Caracas, however, maintains that the military deployment is aimed at destabilising the country and signals a renewed effort to topple its government.
