LATIN AMERICA
US declares ‘total closure’ of Venezuelan airspace
The move comes amid troop deployments, the installation of radar in the Caribbean and a possible ground offensive against Venezuela
US President Donald Trump announced on Saturday (29) the “total closure” of the airspace over and around Venezuela. The statement was published on the Truth Social platform, directing airlines to treat Venezuelan airspace as “completely closed” under the argument of combating drug trafficking and human trafficking.
The measure coincides with the reinforcement of the US military presence in the Caribbean. In Trinidad and Tobago, the local government authorized the installation of a US military radar on the island of Tobago, located a few miles off the Venezuelan coast. The leader of the Trinidadian parliamentary opposition, Marvin Gonzales, accused Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar of being “a pathological liar” when she previously denied that Trinidad would serve as a platform for military action.
Residents of the island have reported the continued presence of US Navy personnel in hotels, while tracking records confirm landings of military aircraft and joint exercises with the local Defense Force. Bloomberg also reported the detection of an “invisible wall of electromagnetic noise” over the Caribbean in recent weeks, coinciding with the deployment of the aircraft carrier Gerald Ford, the largest US military ship, to the region.
According to Caracas, the justifications about drug trafficking serve as cover for a policy of pressure aimed at forcing the overthrow of the Venezuelan government and facilitating control over the country’s oil, gas and gold reserves.
See below for the full statement issued by the Venezuelan government:
Venezuela denounces and condemns the colonialist threat that seeks to affect the sovereignty of its airspace, this constituting a new extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.
The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela utterly repudiates the public message broadcast today on social networks by the President of the United States, in which he seeks to extraterritorially apply illegitimate US jurisdiction in Venezuela by insolently attempting to issue orders and threaten the sovereignty of national airspace, territorial integrity, aeronautical security and the full sovereignty of the Venezuelan state.
This type of declaration constitutes a hostile, unilateral and arbitrary act, incompatible with the most basic principles of international law and which is part of a permanent policy of aggression against our country, with colonial pretensions over our region of Latin America and the Caribbean, denying international law.
Venezuela denounces to the world that these statements represent an explicit threat to use force, which is clearly and unequivocally prohibited by Article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter.
Likewise, this attempt at intimidation violates Article 1 of the Charter, which establishes the maintenance of international peace and security as its fundamental purpose.
Venezuela demands unrestricted respect for its airspace, protected by the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and reaffirmed in the 1944 Chicago Convention, Article 1 of which categorically recognizes that “each State has exclusive and absolute sovereignty over the airspace covering its territory”.
The Bolivarian government warns that Venezuela will not accept orders, threats or interference from any foreign power. No authority outside the Venezuelan institutions has the power to interfere, block or condition the use of national airspace.
By means of this action, the US government has unilaterally suspended the repatriation flights of Venezuelans that had been carried out regularly and on a weekly basis within the framework of the Plan Volta a la Patria. To date, 75 flights have been carried out, resulting in the repatriation of 13,956 Venezuelan migrants, who have been welcomed with love and absolute solidarity.
We make a direct appeal to the international community, the sovereign governments of the world, the UN and the corresponding multilateral organizations, to firmly reject this immoral act of aggression, which amounts to a threat against the sovereignty and security of our homeland, the Caribbean and northern South America.
Venezuela will know how to respond with dignity, with legality and with all the strength that international law and the anti-imperialist spirit of our people provide.
Venezuela will continue to fully exercise its sovereignty protected by international law throughout its airspace. Every threat against Venezuela is a threat against continental peace and against our peoples, the heirs of the liberator Simón Bolívar, who will win.
Caracas, November 29, 2025
US announces preparations for ground offensive
Two days before announcing the closure of the airspace, Trump declared, during a Thanksgiving call with US military personnel, that the US is preparing “new measures” against groups allegedly linked to drug trafficking in Venezuela.
According to the Republican, the ground operations would be “simpler” than the naval ones and should begin “very soon”. He said that around 85% of the maritime transportation attempts had been intercepted and addressed the accused groups directly, saying: “stop sending poison into our country”.
Trump once again linked the Venezuelan government to the so-called “Cartel de los Soles“, an accusation reiterated by the United States but rejected by Caracas. President Nicolás Maduro, in recent public appearances, has called for peace and said that Venezuela “will not be defeated”.
