Venezuela denounces US ‘aggression’ after Trump’s post concerning its airspace

The Venezuelan government on Saturday issued a fierce and impassioned denunciation of what it called a brazen US threat aimed at undermining the country’s sovereignty, describing Washington’s latest move as “another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people”.

In a sharply worded official statement, Caracas rebuked the United States for attempting to impose extraterritorial jurisdiction over Venezuelan airspace — a step it said strikes at the heart of the nation’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The condemnation came after US President Donald Trump abruptly declared on Truth Social that all airspace above and around Venezuela should be considered closed “in its entirety,” a message addressed not only to airlines and pilots but, in his words, to “drug dealers and human traffickers,” without further explanation.

Venezuela warned that such a proclamation amounts to an explicit threat of force, an act expressly forbidden under the UN Charter. It reminded Washington — and the world — that under the 1944 Chicago Convention, each nation retains absolute, exclusive sovereignty over the skies above its territory. Caracas stressed it would never bow to “orders, threats or interference” from any foreign power, insisting the United States had no authority to dictate the status of Venezuela’s airspace.

As tensions continue to escalate, the Venezuelan government urged the international community to reject what it called a dangerous and “immoral act of aggression”. The statement vowed that Venezuela would respond not with provocation, but “with legality and dignity,” upholding international law even as it confronts mounting pressure.

The dispute comes against the backdrop of a growing US military presence in the Caribbean, which Washington says is aimed at curbing drug trafficking. President Nicolás Maduro, however, has repeatedly dismissed these claims as a pretext — an attempted justification for destabilising his government and paving the way for foreign intervention.

With the rhetoric intensifying on both sides, the skies over Venezuela have become the latest arena in a long-simmering geopolitical showdown.

With IANS inputs