Trump maintains pressure campaign on Venezuela, saying its airspace should be considered closed

By Kristen Holmes, Alejandra Jaramillo, Stefano Pozzebon, CNN

Palm Beach, Florida (CNN) — The United States continued its pressure campaign against Venezuela on Saturday as President Donald Trump issued a broad directive on social media, warning airlines, pilots and criminal networks to avoid Venezuelan airspace.

“Please consider the airspace above and surrounding Venezuela to be closed in its entirety,” he wrote in a Truth Social post.

The announcement marks the latest turn of the wheel as the Trump administration intensifies its efforts to force Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro out of office. Officially, the Trump administration says it is working to cut down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs — but regime change is a possible side effect of those efforts.

Venezuela’s foreign minister denounced Trump’s Saturday directive, calling it a “colonialist threat” that constitutes an “extravagant, illegal, and unjustified aggression against the people of Venezuela.”

The US can’t close another country’s airspace. The Federal Aviation Administration last week warned major airlines of a “potentially hazardous situation” when flying over Venezuela and urged them to exercise caution. Direct flights by US passenger or cargo carriers to Venezuela have been suspended since 2019, but some US airlines fly over the country for South American flights.

As Trump has sought to clamp down on illegal flows of migrants and drugs from the South American nation, in recent weeks the president acknowledged he had signed off on plans for the CIA to operate inside Venezuela. And Trump designated Maduro and his government allies as members of a foreign terrorist organization earlier this week, a move administration officials argue will give the US expanded military options for striking inside Venezuela. On Thursday, Trump suggested land strikes inside the country could come imminently.

“In recent weeks, you’ve been working to deter Venezuelan drug traffickers, of which there are many. Of course, there aren’t too many coming in by sea anymore,” Trump told service members during a Thanksgiving call.

“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 continued. “The land is easier, but that’s going to start very soon.”

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham on Saturday applauded the president’s suggestion that US land action in Venezuela would start soon.

“I very much appreciate and respect the determination by President Trump to deal with the drug caliphate countries that inhabit our backyard — chief among them Venezuela,” the South Carolina Republican said in a statement provided to CNN.

The US military has amassed more than a dozen warships and 15,000 troops in the region as part of what the Pentagon has branded “Operation Southern Spear.” Dozens have been killed in boat strikes as part of the anti-drug-trafficking campaign.

For his part, Maduro has sought to project strength and control. “I ask you to remain unshakeable in your composure, ready and prepared to defend our right as a nation. We are a republic in arms!” he said in a televised address to troops Thursday evening.

Trump aides, led largely by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, have continued to discuss a slew of military options against Maduro. Trump cut off all diplomatic talk with Venezuela in October, but he seemed to soften last week when he told reporters that Maduro “would like to talk” and later suggested he would be open to speaking with the Venezuelan leader “at a certain time.”

Maduro and his associates have reached out to the White House through a number of channels, and there are ongoing discussions about what communication between the two countries might look like, multiple administration officials said.

Trump and Maduro spoke by phone last week, according to The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal.

Earlier this week, Trump framed the change of heart as a matter of saving lives.

“If he’s the leader, if we can save lives, if we can do things the easy way, that’s fine, and if we have to do it the hard way, that’s fine, too,” Trump told reporters when asked why he would engage directly with Maduro given the terrorist organization designation.

During earlier informal talks between the US and Venezuela, Maduro signaled an openness to eventually stepping down, though it would not be for at least 18 months, a source familiar with the discussions told CNN. While some US officials thought this might be a solution, the White House eventually concluded it would only support a plan that saw Maduro’s immediate departure.

Meanwhile, Venezuelans are reacting to the growing isolation with a mix of resignation and apprehension.

For Venezuela, the recent geopolitical instability is not without precedent. Over the last 10 years, the nation has seen economic collapse, mass street protests, failed coups and countless conspiracies.

“Will they bomb? Will they not bomb? Who knows. … I don’t really follow the news, and to be honest, nobody knows nothing,” said Marilyn, a waitress at a cafe in Caracas, who asked to use only her first name for fear of retaliation from government officials.

Trump’s threats of potential military action are yet to trigger a tangible impact in the lives of millions of Venezuelans like Marilyn, but the government repression remains palpable. At least 54 people were detained for expressing dissent in October alone, according to the human rights group PROVEA, some arrested simply for sharing anti-Maduro messages on WhatsApp.

The possibility of US strikes is on everyone’s mind, but any mention of it is confined to the private sphere.

In public, life carries on as usual, with Christmas carols and Black Friday announcements blending with Maduro’s almost daily appearances on television.

On Monday, Maduro said publicly that no matter what the United States does, “they will not be able to defeat Venezuela,” claiming the South American county is “invincible.”

CNN’s Stefano Pozzebon reported from Caracas, Venezuela.

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