New York: US President Donald Trump has escalated pressure on Venezuela, declaring the airspace over and around the country closed and tying the move to his anti-drug and anti-migration agenda, amid speculation over possible military action.
In a brief post on Truth Social on Saturday, he wrote: “... please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY”. The message was addressed not only to airlines and pilots but also to “Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers”, casting the step as part of his ongoing drive against illegal migration and narcotics.
Over recent weeks, US forces have carried out airstrikes on vessels in international waters suspected of transporting drugs, targeting more than 20 such boats and killing over 80 people. On Thursday, in a Thanksgiving message to the military, Trump said the US would “be starting to stop them by land”, adding that land operations would be “easier” and would begin “very soon”.
Venezuela condemned the airspace declaration as “hostile and unjustified”, saying it smacked of colonialism. The move comes as the wider region sees a heavy US military presence, with Navy assets, including the aircraft carrier USS Gerald Ford, deployed alongside around 15,000 personnel.
The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that Trump and Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro had recently spoken by phone and discussed a possible face-to-face meeting, among other issues. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a prominent critic of Maduro, was also said to have been on the call. Neither Washington nor Caracas has officially confirmed that the conversation took place.
Earlier media reports suggested Maduro had offered the US access to Venezuela’s oil reserves and other concessions, while seeking to remain in power for two more years, a demand Trump is considered unlikely to accept.
The US recently designated the Venezuelan group Cartel de los Soles as a foreign terrorist organisation and accused Maduro of leading it. That designation gives Trump a legal and political framework to portray any action against Maduro and Venezuela as part of an anti-drug operation rather than a conventional war.
Such an approach could allow him to argue that he does not require formal congressional authorisation for military moves and that he is not violating his own rhetoric against foreign wars and regime-change campaigns, thereby preserving his effort to avoid being seen as a warmonger or jeopardising his ambitions for international recognition, including a Nobel Prize.
Democratic Senate leader Chuck Schumer, however, warned Trump against bypassing constitutional safeguards. “Under our Constitution, Congress has the sole power to declare war — not the president,” he said, accusing Trump of taking “reckless actions towards Venezuela” that are pushing the US “closer and closer to another costly foreign war”.
(Inputs from IANS)