President Donald Trump announced on Saturday that the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety.”
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In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: “To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP.”
The announcement comes after the President said this week that the United States would launch strikes inside Venezuela “very soon” against what he and his Administration have alleged are extensive drug trafficking networks in the country.
Those claims, however, have been interspersed with threats to depose Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, whom the Trump Administration has long considered an illegitimate leader.
Read more: How Venezuela is Preparing for the Possibility of a U.S. Attack
The U.S. has been carrying out strikes against boats it claims are being driven by cartel members carrying drugs in the Caribbean since early September, and for weeks, Trump has threatened to extend the strikes inside Venezuela. At least 80 people have been killed in the strikes, according to the Administration.
Trump gave his strongest signal yet that strikes inside Venezuela would be forthcoming during a Thanksgiving phone call with service members on Thursday.
“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore,” Trump told service members, according to CNN.
“You probably noticed that people aren’t wanting to be delivering by sea, and we’ll be starting to stop them by land also,” the president continued. “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.
Last week, the Federal Aviation Administration warned airlines flying over Venezuela to “exercise caution” due to the “potentially hazardous situation” in the region.
“Operators are advised to exercise caution when operating in the Maiquetia flight information region at all altitudes due to the worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela,” the FAA advisory said.
The increased tensions come amid tentative signs of a thaw between Trump and Maduro, as the New York Times reported Friday that the two leaders spoke last week about the possibility of meeting in the United States.
Read more: Column: Trump Wants Venezuela’s Maduro Out. Will He Pull the Trigger?
If it did occur, the newspaper noted, it would be the first meeting between the authoritarian leader and a U.S. president.
During his first term in office, Trump tried unsuccessfully to push Maduro out of power. Since returning for a second term, he has denied that he is seeking regime change—but those denials are becoming less forceful. Trump has accused Maduro of being an illegitimate president after an election that most independent observers believe was stolen. He has also accused him, without providing evidence, of being the leader of the organized crime gang Tren de Aragua, and blamed him for the trafficking of fentanyl-laced drugs to the United States. In August, a reward for information leading to his arrest was raised to $50 million.
Analysts and legal experts have questioned the legality of the boat strikes, which have been carried out without congressional approval.
The Trump Administration has been building up military forces in the region for months now. The Pentagon deployed 10 F-35s to Puerto Rico last month. The U.S.S. Gerald Ford, thought to be the largest and most advanced aircraft carrier in the world, recently joined eight warships and some 10,000 troops already in the region.
Trump also authorized the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) to conduct covert operations in Venezuela. Maduro responded directly to the revelation, calling the move a “desperate” attempt at regime change.
This is a developing story.