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Venezuela has criticized President Donald Trump’s announcement that the country’s airspace is “closed in its entirety.”
Some shit you should know before you dig in: Yesterday, President Trump took to Truth Social to announce that “all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers” should “consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY.” Despite having no legal authority under international law to unilaterally shut down another nation’s airspace, Trump’s directive had an immediate impact. Major airlines began rerouting flights to avoid Venezuelan skies, effectively leaving the country’s airspace empty and isolating it from much of international aviation.
What’s going on now: In a notable development, Venezuela’s government condemned Trump’s announcement, calling it a “colonialist threat” and an “illegal and unjustified aggression” against the Venezuelan people. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that such unilateral declarations undermine Venezuela’s “territorial integrity, aeronautical security, and full sovereignty,” branding the move as hostile and arbitrary.
Officials in Caracas stressed that this action is not merely an affront to the Maduro administration but a direct attack on the Venezuelan populace, who now face even greater restrictions on international travel and access to essential goods.
Venezuelan authorities have also begun retaliatory measures, suspending the operating rights of airlines that complied with the US directive. They accused those companies of “joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States,” framing the closures as part of a broader, long-running campaign of economic sabotage. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, speaking in a national address, said the US is “piling on lies and excuses” to justify intervention, warning that his government will not be intimidated by foreign coercion.
This all comes as China, a key ally of Venezuela and its largest oil buyer, also weighed in. The Chinese Foreign Ministry condemned Trump’s moves on Venezuela as a violation of international law. China has also accused the US of attempting to destabilize Latin America and warned that “undermining peace and stability in the region serves no one’s interests.”
