Trump previously warned that “very soon” operations will begin to “detain the alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers by land.”
Mexico City, November 29 (However) – The President of USA, Donald Trumpannounced this Saturday that the airspace “on Venezuela and its surroundings” will be completely closed, a measure that increases tension between Washington and the government of Nicolás Maduro.
“To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and human traffickers: please note that the airspace over and around Venezuela will remain completely closed,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The message comes at the end of a week in which the US president showed that his military anti-drug strategy could go from operating mainly in Caribbean waters to also being carried out on land.
Just on Thursday, Trump warned that “very soon” operations will begin to “detain by land” alleged Venezuelan drug traffickers, fueling speculation about a possible military intervention in that country.
“They’ve probably realized that people don’t want to make deliveries by sea anymore, so we’re going to start stopping them by land as well. By land it’s easier, and that’s going to start very soon,” he said in a conversation with the military on the occasion of Thanksgiving.
The Trump Administration, which has authorized the CIA to operate within Venezuela, has pointed out the alleged Cartel of the Suns as one of the main responsible for drug trafficking in the region, thus justifying attacks against drug boats in the Caribbean and also in the eastern Pacific. These actions have left at least 83 people dead in 21 operations, according to official data.
The attacks are part of Operation “Southern Lance” and add to the increase in US military presence in the area, which includes the deployment of the USS Gerald Ford aircraft carrier, the largest in the US Navy.