Washington DC [US], November 29 : Amid a growing row over drug trafficking with Venezuelan counterpart Nicolas Maduro, US President Donald Trump on Saturday closed the airspace "above and surrounding" Venezuela "in its entirety."
The US President's statement comes as Trump's administration piles pressure on Venezuela with a major military deployment in the Caribbean that includes the world's largest aircraft carrier.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump said, "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY. Thank you for your attention to this matter! PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP"
No immediate response from Venezuela after Trump's social media post on Saturday.
US forces have carried out air strikes against more than 20 alleged Venezuelan drug-smuggling vessels in the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific Ocean since early September, killing more than 80 people.
Trump's announcement comes a day after The New York Times reported that the US president spoke with Maduro last week and discussed a possible meeting between them in the US.
There was no official confirmation, but the publication cited multiple people with knowledge of the matter. The report said there were no plans for such a meeting at the moment.
If it were to take place, it would be the first-ever meeting between Maduro, who's been leading Venezuela since 2013, and a US president.
Regional tensions have flared as a result of the US's anti-drug campaign and the accompanying military build-up off Venezuela, Al Jazeera reported.
US aviation authorities last week urged civilian aircraft operating in Venezuelan airspace to "exercise caution" because of the "worsening security situation and heightened military activity in or around Venezuela," as per Al Jazeera.
That warning prompted six airlines, which account for much of South America's travel, to suspend flights to Venezuela.
The move infuriated Caracas and led it to ban the companies - Spain's Iberia, Portugal's TAP, Colombia's Avianca, Chile and Brazil's LATAM, Brazil's GOL and Turkish Airlines - for "joining the actions of state terrorism promoted by the United States government," Al Jazeera reported.
Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor