The Daily Populous Sunday November 30th, 2025 night edition
Authored by bbc.com and submitted by ChrysanthemumEye

Venezuela calls Trump airspace closure warning 'colonialist threat'

4 hours ago Share Save Aoife Walsh Washington Share Save

Venezuela has accused US President Donald Trump of making a "colonialist threat" after he said the airspace around the country should be considered closed. The country's foreign ministry called Trump's comments "another extravagant, illegal and unjustified aggression against the Venezuelan people". The US does not legally have the authority to close another country's airspace, but Trump's online post could lead to travel uncertainty and deter airlines from operating there. The US has been building its military presence in the Caribbean, which officials say is to combat drug smuggling. Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro has dismissed US claims of drug trafficking as an attempt to oust him.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump wrote: "To all Airlines, Pilots, Drug Dealers, and Human Traffickers, please consider THE AIRSPACE ABOVE AND SURROUNDING VENEZUELA TO BE CLOSED IN ITS ENTIRETY." The White House did not immediately respond to the BBC's request for comment. Trump's comments come days after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) warned airlines of "heightened military activity in and around Venezuela". In a statement on Saturday, Venezuela's foreign ministry said that the US had "unilaterally suspended" its weekly migrant repatriation flights. "We call directly on the international community, the sovereign governments of the world, the UN, and the relevant multilateral organizations to firmly reject this immoral act of aggression," it said. Venezuela on Wednesday banned six major international airlines – Iberia, TAP Portugal, Gol, Latam, Avianca and Turkish Airlines – from landing there after they failed to meet a 48-hour deadline to resume flights.

Logictrauma on November 29th, 2025 at 21:11 UTC »

Man. He really doesn’t want to talk about all those children he raped.

MyOtherAvatar on November 29th, 2025 at 21:08 UTC »

"Above and Surrounding"

How far beyond the border is "surrounding"? Looking at a map, there are cities in the countries around Venezuela and some of them have airports.

RLewis8888 on November 29th, 2025 at 20:49 UTC »

The No New War president changes name to Department of War and (checks notes), begins new wars.