Overview
- President Donald Trump told airlines and pilots to consider the skies over and around Venezuela fully closed, escalating public warnings posted on his social platform.
- Trump said U.S. forces will very soon begin targeting alleged Venezuelan traffickers on land after months of maritime actions.
- The United States has surged forces in the southern Caribbean, including the USS Gerald R. Ford carrier group, with nearby air activity and logistical access granted by countries such as the Dominican Republic and Trinidad and Tobago.
- Since September, U.S. operations have struck more than 20 suspected trafficking vessels, causing at least 83 deaths in actions the United Nations has criticized as possible extrajudicial killings.
- Caracas condemned the airspace message as a colonialist threat and put its forces on alert, as the New York Times reported Trump and Nicolás Maduro recently held a phone call to discuss a possible meeting.