The United States has carried out at least 21 lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels since September, killing more than 80 alleged traffickers.
President Donald Trump said on Nov. 29 that the airspace above and around Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety,” marking the latest development as the United States intensifies military and diplomatic pressure on Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro’s socialist regime.
In a Nov. 29 post on Truth Social, Trump addressed “all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers,” telling them to “consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.”
Trump offered no additional details, but the warning follows a series of U.S. military actions and escalating tensions with Caracas over narcotics trafficking and security operations in the Caribbean.
The United States has carried out at least 21 lethal strikes on suspected drug-smuggling vessels since September, killing more than 80 alleged traffickers aboard boats that U.S. officials say were ferrying narcotics northward. The USS Gerald R. Ford—the world’s largest aircraft carrier—arrived in the Caribbean on Nov. 16 to bolster the Pentagon’s counter-narcotics mission.
Trump signaled the possibility of expanded operations earlier this week, telling U.S. troops on Nov. 27 that American forces may soon conduct ground actions targeting drug-trafficking routes inside Venezuela. He praised the work of the Air Force’s 7th Bomb Wing in deterring maritime smuggling, saying traffickers have increasingly shifted away from sea routes.
“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 said.
“The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon. We’d warn them. Stop sending poison to our country.”
His remarks followed a three-day trip by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine to the U.S. Southern Command region, including meetings with leaders in Trinidad and Tobago about narcotics flows and human trafficking in the Caribbean.
Nearly a dozen U.S. warships and roughly 12,000 troops are currently deployed as part of “Operation Southern Spear,” one of the largest American force concentrations in the region in decades.
The Trump administration accuses the Maduro regime of being deeply involved in international narcotics trafficking and maintains ties with criminal networks such as the Cartel de los Soles, which Washington recently designated as a foreign terrorist organization. With that designation, Maduro was formally considered a member of a terrorist group and the leader of an international cocaine-smuggling racket. The Venezuelan leader has denied the allegations.
By Tom Ozimek
