Trump says Venezuela airspace ‘closed’

The government of Nicolás Maduro calls U.S. leader’s words a ‘colonial threat.’

- JOSH BOAK AND GABRIELA MOLINA

TRAVELERS wait in Venezuela on Nov. 13 as international flights are canceled.

ARIANA CUBILLOS Associated Press

President Trump on Saturday said that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela should be considered “closed in its entirety,” an assertion that raised more questions about the U.S. pressure on Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.

Maduro's government accused Trump of making a “colonial threat” and seeking to undermine the South American country’s sovereignty.

The White House did not respond to questions about what Trump posted on his Truth Social platform, and it was unclear whether he was announcing a new policy or simply reinforcing the messaging around his campaign against Maduro, which has involved multiple strikes in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean on small boats Trump claims are ferrying drugs as well as a buildup of naval forces in the region.

More than 80 people have been killed in the U.S. maritime strikes since early September. The Trump administration says it is targeting “narco-terrorists,” but at least some of the dead have been fishermen and other impoverished laborers.