President Donald Trump‘s statement that the airspace over Venezuela is “closed” has resulted in the suspension of deportation flights from the United States, the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry said.
Trump issued a warning to pilots on Saturday morning that the airspace “above and surrounding” Venezuela is now “closed in its entirety.” The surprising announcement was met with condemnation from the Venezuela government, which called it an “illegal” and “immoral act of aggression” in a statement that included an appeal to the United Nations as well as a vow to respond “with all the strength granted by international law.”
“The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela strongly repudiates the public message disseminated today on social media by the President of the United States,” the statement said. “The Bolivarian Government warns that Venezuela will not accept orders, threats, or interference from any foreign power. No authority outside the Venezuelan institutional framework has the power to interfere with, block, or condition the use of national airspace.”
Venezuela also revealed a consequence of Trump’s statement — the immediate suspension of deportation flights to Venezuela, a key part of the U.S. president’s immigration agenda.
“Through this action, the United States government has unilaterally suspended the Venezuelan migrant flights that were being carried out regularly and weekly as part of the repatriation of Venezuelans through the Plan Vuelta a la Patria (Return to the Homeland Plan),” it added.
The deportation flights were a rare instance of cooperation between the U.S. and Venezuela at the beginning of Trump’s second term.
TRUMP SAYS VENEZUELAN AIRSPACE NOW ‘CLOSED’
Those already fragile relations have significantly deteriorated as Trump wages a drug war on the South American country, which has so far been limited to strikes on small alleged drug vessels in the Caribbean and Southern Pacific.
Those military operations may be expanding, with the airspace announcement signaling strikes on targets inside Venezuela could be imminent.
