Topline
Venezuela’s air space will remain open, its government said Saturday, denouncing President Donald Trump for saying it is “to be closed in its entirety” amid escalating tensions with the Venezuelan government and a U.S. military campaign against alleged drug cartels in the Caribbean.
President Donald Trump participates in a video call with military service members from his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 27, 2025, during the Thanksgiving holiday. (Photo by Jim WATSON / AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Facts
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement that Venezuela “denounces and condemns the colonialist threat” by Trump, calling it “incompatible with the most fundamental principles of International Law.”
Gil also said in the statement the U.S. government has suspended biweekly migrant flights to Venezuela.
Trump instructed “Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers” to “please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY,” he wrote Saturday on Truth Social.
The declaration comes days after Trump warned the U.S. would begin a military campaign against drug cartels in Venezuela on land “very soon.”
The U.S. has been attacking alleged drug-trafficking vessels off the coast of Venezuela in recent months, killing dozens and raising concerns about whether the Trump administration has the authority to conduct the attacks.
The Venezuelan government on Wednesday banned six international airlines, accusing them of “joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government” after the airlines suspended flights to Venezuela following a warning from the Federal Aviation Administration of a “potentially hazardous situation” due to “heightened military activity.”
Tangent
Trump spoke with Maduro by phone last week and discussed a potential meeting in the U.S., The New York Times reported, citing unnamed sources. A U.S. president has never had a formal meeting or encounter with Maduro.
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Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/saradorn/2025/11/29/venezuela-rejects-trumps-push-to-close-airspace-as-colonialist-threat/
