Venezuela calls Trump’s call to close airspace a ‘colonialist threat’ : NPR
President Donald Trump speaks to reporters after speaking to troops via video from his Mar-a-Lago estate on Thanksgiving, Thursday, Nov. 27, 2025, in Palm Beach, Florida.
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The Venezuelan government condemned President Trump’s statement Saturday calling for the closure of airspace over Venezuela.
In an article from Truth SocialTrump said: “To all airlines, pilots, drug traffickers and human traffickers, please consider that the airspace above and around Venezuela is closed in its entirety.”
The Venezuelan government responded with a statement saying Trump’s comments violate international law and pose a “colonialist threat” to the country’s sovereignty.
“No authority outside the Venezuelan institutional framework has the power to interfere, block or condition the use of international airspace,” the statement said.
From Sunday afternoon, Flight radar24 shows planes continuing to fly in Venezuelan airspace.
This comes a day after the Senate and House Armed Services Committees said they would investigate the Pentagon after The Washington Post reported that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered the killing of all crew members aboard a boat suspected of drug trafficking in the Caribbean in September. NPR confirmed the Washington Post’s reports.
The army carried out at least 21 keystrokes and killed at least 82 people on suspected drug boats as part of “Operation Southern Spear,” a campaign the Trump administration says is aimed at combating drug trafficking.
Venezuela said in its statement that “such statements represent an explicit use of force, which is prohibited by Article 2, paragraph 4 of the United Nations Charter.”
Democrats also sharply criticized the administration’s strategy, saying the military did not have enough evidence that the boats were carrying drugs before carrying out the strikes. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told ABC’S This week On Sunday, it is possible that the military actions will be considered a “war crime” and that Hegseth will be held responsible.
“They’ve never presented the information they have here to the public,” Van Hollen said, “But it could be worse than that, right? If this theory is false, then it’s simple murder.”
However, Republican Sen. Eric Schmitt, a member of the Armed Services Committee, said the Sunday morning futures on Fox News that Trump is acting “well within his Article 2 powers” when it comes to fighting drug trafficking by hitting boats.
“I think it’s a two-part strategy,” Schmitt said. “The first is to get rid of the precursors that come from China and then eliminate the cartels that distribute them and transport them to the United States of America.”
Democrats and Republicans in Congress have expressed frustration with Trump’s stance on Venezuela and the fact that the Trump administration carried out the strikes without legislative approval.
“Trump’s reckless actions toward Venezuela are pushing America ever closer to another costly foreign war,” Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said. posted on Saturday, hours after Trump’s message about Venezuelan airspace.
Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a former Trump ally, also posted a message Saturday saying: “Reminder, Congress has the sole authority to declare war. »
